Fleetwood Town Host Arsenal in League Cup Tie at Highbury
League Two strugglers Fleetwood Town host English champions Arsenal on Tuesday night in the Carabao Cup, the knockout competition also known as the League Cup. The winner of this fourth-round tie reaches the last 16. Kick-off is at 8pm GMT.
Fleetwood sit 18th in League Two, the fourth tier of English football, with 14 points from 13 games. Arsenal come into the match as English champions, and the gap between the two clubs could hardly be wider on paper. Fleetwood have not let that stop them in this competition.
To reach this stage, Fleetwood beat Chesterfield, Shrewsbury and Sheffield United without conceding a goal. It is the first time the club has reached the fourth round. Arsenal have never played them before, so there is no recent history to lean on.
The ground is the big draw. Tickets sold out, and Fleetwood Town have planned a special pre-match show before kick-off. Highbury is a compact stadium, and a full house will make it hard for visitors to settle.
Arsenal will feel the pressure of the favourites' role, but they arrive with form on their side. They beat Everton at the weekend, and their manager will be keen to keep the rotation sensible while still taking the tie seriously. Cup football often rewards the side that makes fewer mistakes in the first half hour.
The match will be shown live on Sky Sports from 8pm. Michael Salisbury will referee, with Matthew Wilkes and Alex James as his assistants.
Away from Fleetwood, the football world also paused to mark the death of Peter Dobing, aged 87. Dobing captained Stoke City when they beat Chelsea 2-1 to win the League Cup in 1972. He made 377 appearances for Stoke and also played for Blackburn and Manchester City. The Guardian reported his death in its live coverage.
For a club in the lower reaches of the league, a night like this is what the cup is for. A full ground, a famous visitor and a place in the last 16 on the line can turn a quiet Tuesday into a night the town remembers.
