Arsène Wenger has named his 16-man squad for tonight's Carling Cup tie against Liverpool.
As revealed by Arsenal.com yesterday, Abou Diaby is the notable inclusion. The French midfielder is in line for his first appearance in an Arsenal shirt since fracturing and dislocating his ankle at Sunderland last May.
Cesc Fabregas is back after serving a suspension during Saturday's FA Cup win at Anfield while Kolo Toure and Johan Djourou look set to start in central defence.
Wenger has opted for a blend of internationals and inexperienced youngsters. That second category includes Henri Lansbury, yet to feature for the first team.
Mark Randall and Armand Traore are included after featuring in the Carling Cup victories at West Brom and Everton this season while Matthew Connolly is back from his loan spell at Bournemouth.
2. Abou Diaby
4. Francesc Fabregas
5. Kolo Toure
9. Julio Baptista
15. Denilson
17. Alex Song
20. Johan Djourou
21. Mart Poom
24. Manuel Almunia
30. Jeremie Aliadiere
31. Justin Hoyte
32. Theo Walcott
33. Matthew Connolly
40. Henri Lansbury
43. Mark Randall
45. Armand Traore
Arsène Wenger will perform a familiar balancing act when he takes his Arsenal side back up to Anfield for their second Cup tie in four days against Liverpool.
The Arsenal manager has traditionally used the Carling Cup as a vehicle to develop young players but his starting line-up will include a liberal sprinkling of experience as the Frenchman plots another knockout blow on Merseyside.
"We always adjust to the difficulty we face and I feel we are always in between two problems," Wenger told Arsenal.com.
"One is to reward the players who have fought through until now, and the other is to make the team good enough to have a chance to win the game. It is always about finding the right balance because some players have done extremely well in this competition, they have shown a lot of desire.
"Liverpool is a tough opponent so I have to find the right balance and that's why I will approximately rebuild the team but as well some players who are coming back from injury will have a chance to play. For me I have 20 outfield players of the same level and 10 of them will play."
The most notable inclusion in Wenger's squad is Abou Diaby. The French midfielder has not played since suffering a fractured and dislocated ankle at Sunderland last May but he completed his first full training session five days ago and is in contention for a welcome return.
This time last week Arsenal had 10 first-team players on the injured list. Seven days later only Freddie Ljungberg (hamstring) is still struggling although Emmanuel Adebayor, William Gallas (both thigh) and Lauren (toe) will be given more time to regain full fitness. Theo Walcott and Julio Baptista, both of whom returned from injury with substitute appearances on Saturday, could start tonight.
Wenger's squad is certainly in far ruder health than it was when this game was abandoned due to fog on December 19. Confidence is also high after that FA Cup triumph at Anfield three days ago. Merseyside has been a happy hunting ground for Arsenal this season - they won at Everton in the previous round of this competition. And victory tonight will set up another mouthwatering tie against North London rivals Tottenham.
"We should gain confidence for difficult trips because we have shown we can handle that at West Brom and Everton," said Wenger. "Especially the Everton game, I feel the team played without any fear and I hope we can repeat that kind of performance.
"Playing Tottenham in the Semi-Finals is a huge incentive for us and of course having played Liverpool in the FA Cup we will go up there again with the same desire. The target is to beat Liverpool twice. Going into the Semi-Finals of the Carling Cup is a great motivation for us and we will try to do it.
"I just hope it's not foggy again!"
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