Fleetwood Town hosts Arsenal in Carabao Cup clash as football mourns Peter Dobing

Arsenal face Fleetwood Town away at Highbury Stadium in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup with an 8pm GMT kick-off. Premier League champions Arsenal have never played Fleetwood before. Ilhan Meslier makes his debut in goal for Arsenal, while Christian Mosquera and Piero Hincapie return from injury to start alongside Martin Zubimendi. Manager Mikel Arteta has also included young players Max Dowman, Marli Salmon and Ceadach O'Neill in his starting line-up. Fleetwood Town head coach Matt Lawlor notes his team has made changes for the visit of the champions and planned substitutions to manage the game. Fleetwood sit 18th in League Two with 14 points from 13 games, but they knocked out second-tier Sheffield United in the previous round without conceding a goal. Gale-force winds are hitting the seaside stadium ahead of the match, which will go straight to penalties if scores level after 90 minutes, with no VAR in use.

Other Ties

In the night's other fourth-round Carabao Cup fixture, 2013 finalists Bradford City host Peterborough, managed by Robbie Savage, in an all-League One match ensuring a third-tier team reaches the quarter-finals.

Sad Loss

Meanwhile, the football world is mourning Peter Dobing, the captain of Stoke's 1972 League Cup-winning side, who has died at age 87. Dobing made 377 appearances over ten years with Stoke, also played for Blackburn and Manchester City, and captained his side to a 2-1 victory over Chelsea before injury ended his playing career a year later.

Context

The Carabao Cup provides lower-league clubs a rare chance to host top-tier opposition in high-stakes knockout fixtures. Matches tied after regulation time proceed directly to penalty shootouts without extra time in the early rounds.