Fleetwood clash gives Mikel Arteta and Arsenal more than just a chance to rest key players
Arsenal visit League Two side Fleetwood Town in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night, and Mikel Arteta can use this match for more than just resting key players.
The fixture schedule has not been kind to the Gunners, handing them yet another away game far from North London. After Arteta's men travel to Prague next week, they'll have played 11 of their first 16 matches of the season away from the Emirates. This is unprecedented and quite frankly unfair. That said, Arteta and his players have coped exceptionally well so far.
The 400-mile round-trip to Fleetwood in midweek certainly won't help, particularly with this particular excursion engulfed in a run that includes visits to Munich, Nottingham and Liverpool. Arteta would be forgiven for sending the under-21s team to Lancashire, as well as the youth side's coaching staff.
However, the Spanish manager shouldn't be overly dismissive of this encounter, and can instead use it for more than just resting all the main senior players and blooding some youngsters.
Five Arsenal squad players need minutes vs Fleetwood
While Carabao Cup silverware would be a nice bonus for the Gunners this season, their performance in this second-rate competition won't define their campaign. As a result, it'll be easy for Arteta not to take the match too seriously, particularly given the level of the opposition.
However, he shouldn't just resort to fielding a team of teenagers and leave every senior player at home. This approach could actually prove to be a mistake.
The fixture schedule doesn't let up before and after the next international break. Anfield awaits on Sunday, before the Gunners face Slavia Prague and Hull City next week.
After the international break, Arsenal play all of the following fixtures in a 30-day period in the lead up to Christmas:
Newcastle (A)
Borussia Dortmund (H)
Man City (H)
Brentford (A)
Tottenham (A)
Real Madrid (H)
Bournemouth (H)
Man Utd (H)
Eight games in 30 days, all against extremely competent sides (barring perhaps Spurs and Manchester United). Arteta will need every single player in his squad during this period, with all of them likely to play at least relatively prominent roles.
The issue at the moment is that some of those who are going to need to contribute have hardly played any minutes so far this season. Thus, they'll come into these important clashes cold if they're not handed the minutes they need before this exhausting run.
Martin Zubimendi and Piero Hincapie have played 214 and 163 minutes of football, respectively, across all competitions this term. Riccardo Calafiori can't play every minute in this upcoming run of fixtures, while Zubimendi will be needed to spare Declan Rice and Bruno Guimaraes. They must start against Fleetwood, and these minutes could prove to be hugely beneficial to the Gunners in the long run.
The same goes for the likes of Viktor Gyokeres, Mikel Merino and Cristhian Mosquera, all of whom have had limited minutes this season, but will be required once the going gets even tougher.
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