Arsenal vs Bolton

The EFL Cup, which has recently been one of Arsenal's least favorite tournaments, is back at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night as the Gunners take on Bolton Wanderers in the third round.

Even though the Gunners advanced beyond the first two rounds, their guests had to overcome Mansfield Town and Shrewsbury Town in order to meet Mikel Arteta's team in a glamorous tie.

In Sunday's Premier League title match against Manchester City, Arsenal—a team that was frequently criticized for being easy to bully in the latter part of Arsene Wenger's tenure—traded their soft underbelly for the "dark arts," a strategy that came dangerously close to paying off at a venue where they had not triumphed since January 2015.

For the duration of the second half, Arteta's ten men bravely and gallantly guarded the goal, but they ultimately conceded two points in the most agonizing way imaginable when John Stones headed in the Citizens' most recent Premier League equalizer in a thrilling 2-2 draw.

Public opinion was split over Arsenal's bus-parking tactics at the Etihad, but since the Gunners were playing Man City away from home with 10 men, no one could really criticize them for switching to a 5-4-0 formation after Riccardo Calafiori and Gabriel Magalhaes had negated Erling Haaland's 100th Citizens goal in the first half.

Arsenal, who are still only two points behind Pep Guardiola's team despite their unbeaten start, will now turn their attention to a competition that they have only won twice in their history—not since 1993—in an attempt to avoid losing to West Ham United in the fourth round of the previous season.

But Arsenal hasn't actually won a home game in the competition since 2021, when former Hale End star Charlie Patino was one of the scorers in a 5-1 Sunderland thumping. The Gunners' last two EFL Cup matches at the Emirates Stadium have resulted in losses to Liverpool and Bolton Wanderers.

Public opinion was split over Arsenal's bus-parking tactics at the Etihad, but since the Gunners were playing Man City away from home with 10 men, no one could really criticize them for switching to a 5-4-0 formation after Riccardo Calafiori and Gabriel Magalhaes had negated Erling Haaland's 100th Citizens goal in the first half.

Arsenal, who are still only two points behind Pep Guardiola's team despite their unbeaten start, will now turn their attention to a competition that they have only won twice in their history—not since 1993—in an attempt to avoid losing to West Ham United in the fourth round of the previous season.

The Trotters haven't advanced past the third round of the EFL Cup since the 2011–12 season, and this season, Ian Evatt's team has been characterized by inconsistent play. Ironically, Arsenal ended the Trotters' streak in the last 16 of the competition.

In fact, Bolton has had a loss-win pattern in their last six games in all competitions. On September 14, they suffered a humiliating 4-0 home loss to Huddersfield Town; the following weekend, they thrashed Reading 5-2, with Dion Charles scoring a hat-trick in the first half.

Bolton, who sits in a miserable eighteenth place in the League One standings with just two wins out of six, will now play Arsenal again twelve years after their last encounter, which ended in a goalless Premier League draw in 2011–12. Before that, Fabrice Muamba's opening goal in the EFL Cup last 16 that same year was cancelled out by Andrey Arshavin and Park Chu-Young.