Arsenal will welcome Reading to the Emirates Stadium for the fourth round EFL Cup clash on Tuesday (25 October).

Where to watch

Kick-off is at 7.45pm BST. There is no live TV coverage in the UK. Catch the highlights of the game on Sky Sports 1 and 1 HD.

Overview

Arsenal have easiest fixture of all the top clubs to progress to the fifth round of the League Cup when they take on Reading at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday (25 October). Liverpool face Tottenham, Manchester United face neighbours City, while Chelsea face London rivals West Ham United.

Arsene Wenger will be keen for his team to get back to winning ways after their seven-game winning streak in all competitons came to an end when they failed to break the deadlock against Middlesbrough at the Emirates Stadium. The French manager is likely to make a raft of changes to the squad with a number of fringe first-team and reserve players set to be handed a run out. Olivier Giroud is likely to make a return from injury against the Royals, but will possibly start on the bench with Lucas set to make the starting XI like he did during their win over Nottingham Forest in the previous round.

Olivier Giroud
Olivier Giroud is likely to make his return from injury when Arsenal take on Reading in the EFL Cup on Tuesday (25 October) Getty

Reading, on the other hand, have won just one of their last five games and will be hoping to cause an upset when they visit the Emirates on Tuesday. Jaap Stam's side won against Rotherham in the Championship, in their latest encounter and will be keen to continue the momentum. Similar to Arsenal, the former Manchester United defender is likely to make changes to his team and give some of the fringe players in the first-team a chance to impress.

The last time the two clubs faced each other it resulted in one of the most historic games in the competition when Arsenal came from 4-0 down to win 7-5 after extra-time. The Gunners were down four goals within the first 25 minutes, before mounting a comeback inspired on the night by hat-trick hero Theo Walcott.

What managers say

Arsene Wenger [after Middlesbrough draw]: That's our target. We have a game on Tuesday night so let's come back to winning habits straight away. It's [about] how you deal with disappointment and how you bounce back and I believe that the group is strong enough.

Jaap Stam [on Reading's win over Rotherham ahead of Arsenal clash]: It was quite stressful. They made it difficult for us in how they played, every ball they had they threw in front of the box. So it wasn't the easiest of games. But we were patient on the ball and eventually they got tired and we started to creates chances ad got the goal.

Betting odds (betfair)

  • Arsenal Win: 1/4
  • Draw: 24/5
  • Reading Win: 11

Team news

Arsenal

Possible XI: Ospina; Debuchy, Holding, Gabriel, Gibbs; Coquelin, Elneny; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Reine-Adelaide, Willock; Perez.

Reading

Possible XI: Jaakkola; Watson, Moore, Blackett, Obita; Swift, Kelly; Harriot, Quinn, Samuel; Mendes.

EFL Cup Arsene Wenger Arsenal FC