Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United will look to make up their weak start to the season with a resounding victory against one of the greats of English football, Arsenal, this Tuesday for the round of 16 of the League Cup. The game will be played at the Emirates Stadium, London, from 3:45 pm and can be seen on ESPN.
After carrying out a great campaign in the 2020/21 Premier League, that of Leeds’ return to the top flight, and finishing ninth just three points behind the last position that qualified for European competitions, the Bielsa team is in the doldrums in the edition 2021/22. He adds just 7 points in 9 dates – one win, four draws, four losses – and is in 17th position, just three units from the relegation places.
Loco’s team did not suffer renowned casualties in the preseason and, to top it all, added several signings such as that of the Welsh winger Daniel James (they paid 29 million euros to Manchester United), that of the Dominican side Junior Firpo (15 million to Barcelona) and the purchase of winger Jack Harrison (12 million from Manchester City), who was on loan at the club for several seasons.
Anyway, the national cups have not been Bielsa’s strong suit since he came to English football. He always said goodbye to the FA Cup in his first game (1-2 against QPR in 2019, 0-1 with Arsenal in 2020 and 0-3 against fourth division Crawley Town in 2021). From the League Cup, meanwhile, he managed to advance to the second round in his three previous appearances, and the current one is his best harvest.
In their debut, they beat third division Crewe 3-0 and later eliminated second-place Fulham on penalties.
Arsenal, meanwhile, are on the rise after losing the first three Premier League games and leaving Catalan DT Mikel Arteta on the line. The London team remains undefeated in six games (four wins) and has just beaten Aston Villa deldra Martínez 3-1.
Chelsea-Southampton (on ESPN 2) and Queens Park Rangers-Sunderland (ESPN on the Star + platform) will also play from 3:45 p.m.
On Wednesday, also at 3:45 p.m., the other five single-game keys will be played: Stoke City-Brentford (ESPN on Star +); West Ham-Manchester City; Leicester City-Brighton (ESPN on Star +); Burnley-Tottenham Hotspur (ESPN Extra) and Preston North End-Liverpool.
Manchester City won the last four editions and with eight titles, together with Liverpool, it is the most winning club in the competition.
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