Viktor Gyokeres axed: Three fringe Arsenal players who must start vs Crystal Palace
Mikel Arteta has the opportunity to rotate when his Arsenal side face Crystal Palace in the quarter-final stage of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday evening.
Chelsea, Man City and Newcastle have all already booked their places in the Carabao Cup semi-finals next month after respective wins against Cardiff City, Brentford and Fulham last week.
Arsenal face the prospect of playing Enzo Maresca’s Blues in the two-legged semi’s, but must get past fellow capital rivals Crystal Palace at the Emirates Stadium first.
Arteta’s side beat Everton 1-0 last time out through Viktor Gyokeres’ first-half penalty, but the Swede is surely set to be rested against the Eagles with bigger games on the horizon as they chase the Premier League title.
The Spaniard is expected to name a rotated side on Tuesday evening, and Football Insider have picked out three players who each deserve to start as they aim to progress.
Gabriel Jesus
Jesus had been out injured since January after suffering an ACL tear against Man United, but made his return to action against Club Brugge recently and nearly had an instant impact as one of his shots rattled the crossbar.
He has since appeared off the bench against Wolves and Everton, and could well be in line to start against Palace as Gyokeres is rested once more.
Arteta confirmed ahead of the cup clash that the Brazilian striker is “ready” to make an impact from the off after a full recovery, so with Kai Havertz still sidelined, it seems a safe bet to assume that he will be in the starting eleven on Tuesday.
Ethan Nwaneri
18-year-old Nwaneri has seen his game time reduced somewhat this season after a breakthrough 2024-25 campaign in which he scored nine goals across 37 senior appearances.
The attacking midfielder has only appeared for 21 minutes in the Gunners’ last nine games, with Martin Odegaard’s recent return from injury pushing him even further down the pecking order.
This cup clash will provide Arteta with the chance to hand out valuable opportunities to his fringe players, and Nwaneri deserves a shot at starting to prove that he still has what it takes to make an impact among their imported talent.
Nwaneri has been hailed as a future Arsenal legend, and more minutes feel important to him at this stage in his development, especially after some recent time out of the team.
Kepa Arrizabalaga
David Raya has been Arteta’s number one goalkeeper for the last two seasons, with successive Premier League Golden Glove awards to show for his consistently impressive performances.
Kepa arrived at Arsenal from Chelsea in the summer to play second fiddle, and both of his competitive appearances for the club so far have come in Carabao Cup wins against Port Vale and Brighton.
He kept clean sheets and saved all six shots faced across both of those games, with his previous experience in this cup extending to two final appearances during his time with the Stamford Bridge club.
Arteta has had a clear plan in his mind in terms of allowing Kepa to feature in cup games to give Raya some rest from a busy schedule, and he needs to continue that theme now more than ever during the hectic winter months.