Carling Cup / Dan Fitch / 11 November 2008 / Leave a comment

They may be "kids" but the likes of Vela and Jack Wilshere already look the business in their teens for Arsenal. Wigan are likely to field a full-strength team including Premiership joint top-scorer Amr Zaki but once again youth is likely to prevail over experience, says Dan Fitch.

On Tuesday night, Arsene Wenger will be fielding a side that is even younger than normal, as Arsenal host Wigan in the Carling Cup fourth round. Steve Bruce will feel that his Wigan team will be able to get a result against such inexperience, though many a team of established Premier League players have come a cropper when pitted against Wenger's conveyer belt of young talent.

In the third round of the competition Arsenal ran out 6-0 winners against Sheffield United, despite naming their youngest ever side, with an average age of 19. Arsenal fielded the strike pairing of Nicklas Bendtner and Carlos Vela in this match, with Bendtner scoring twice and the Mexican international Vela grabbing a hat trick. Another six-goal match is currently priced up at around [13.0] and though that looks a genuine longshot, it may well be worth having a small investment on the more conservative option of over 3.5 goals at [3.15]. Arsenal's "kids" are more than capable of scoring four themselves, not to mention the fact that with the likes of Zaki and Koumas around, goals are never too far away for Wigan either.

Due to work permit problems, Vela has spent the last three seasons out on loan in Spain, gaining some valuable experience in La Liga last term with Osasuna. Still only 19 years old, Vela is seen by Wenger as being a striker in a similar mould as Eduardo and after his performance in the Carling Cup third round, can surely be expected to start on Tuesday night. Vela is alongside the more seasoned campaigner Nicklas Bendtner the joint-favourite to open the scoring at [6.0].

One thing that might be viewed as unexpected, in regards to the team which saw off Sheffield United, was the healthy presence of British talent amongst Arsenal's starting line up. There were five British players in the starting eleven, including 16 year old Jack Wilshere and two more that came off the bench. It can only be a good thing for British football and our international sides if some of these youngsters can one day make it through to the Arsenal first team.

Last season Wenger's young guns defeated the likes of Newcastle and Blackburn, before being beaten by Spurs in the semi-finals. The previous season Arsenal did even better, beating Everton, Liverpool and Tottenham, before succumbing to Chelsea in the final.

There are many that don't agree with Wenger's League Cup policy, but it's hard to argue with it considering the success Arsenal have had in the competition. As well as providing great experience for players that have then gone on to grace the Arsenal first team, the Gunners have been beaten semi-finalists twice and the beaten finalist once, in the last three seasons.

Wigan fans will no doubt want me to point out that it was they that halted Arsenal's progress to the final in 2005/06, when they defeated Wenger's side over two legs. In what was their first season in the Premier League, Wigan were then thrashed 4-0 in the final by Manchester United.

Steve Bruce put out a full strength team in this season's third round clash away at Ipswich and was rewarded as his side ran out 4-1 winners. Whilst many managers, even with struggling clubs, choose to use the Carling Cup to blood youngsters and field fringe players, Bruce has always treated the competition with respect. Arsenal's youngsters can therefore expect to have to deal with Wigan's strongest starting eleven, including the striking partnership of Amr Zaki and Emile Heskey, if fit. If the England striker fails to recover from a hamstring injury, Henri Camara is expected to deputise.

Arsenal fielded a central defensive pairing of Johan Djourou and Alexandre Song against Sheffield United and whilst they both have a reasonable amount of first team experience, Zaki will fancy his chances. Zaki now has nine goals in all competitions, with Heskey having netted twice this season.

There is little point in looking at Wigan's recent record against Arsenal, considering that Wenger will be fielding a completely different team than he would do in the Premier League. As always is the case when Arsenal play in the League Cup, you have to fancy their Premier League opponents to have a great chance, but the list of scalps that Arsenal's youngsters have claimed, proves that this rarely comes to fruition.

There's no real reason why a Carling Cup fixture should get messy or ill-tempered with both sides having bigger fish to fry in the Premiership and the last thing either manager wants is players missing crucial league fixtures through suspension. But things don't always turn out as you'd expect in football and it's worth noting that 9 points and above (5 bookings or more) trades at [3.95] in the bookings odds market.

Arsenal are the [1.72] favourites to win the match, with the draw [3.85] and Wigan [6.0]. Arsenal's young players are so desperate to be let off the leash that they normally impress and I would expect them to come through this challenge. Arsene's young guns can be backed at [7.0] to win the competition.