Winning the Carabao Cup won’t quieten those who make fun of Mikel Arteta’s lack of silverware since he took over at Arsenal.
But victory in this competition could be a marker; a springboard to much bigger things.
Arsenal are flying in the Champions League after six wins out of six and ensured they’d be top of the Premier League at Christmas after digging out a 1-0 win over Everton at the weekend.
This tie was delayed from last week to avoid a fixture pile-up and it means the semi-final draw has already taken place. The winners here will play Chelsea in the last four.
Crystal Palace took advantage of an ailing and understrength Liverpool to book their quarter-final spot.
That impressive 3-0 victory sparked a run of seven wins in 10 matches but they’ve hit a sticky patch in recent times.
The Eagles lost 3-0 at home to Manchester City despite playing well but were held 2-2 by Finnish side KuPS to miss out on direct qualification to the UEFA Conference League quarter-finals and then made 11 changes for the weekend trip to Elland Road where they were thumped 4-1 by Leeds United.
Arsenal team news
Arsenal still have a list of absentees in defence with Gabriel, Ben White and Cristhian Mosquera all set to miss out again.
Areta still can’t call on the services of Kai Havertz as the Gunners embark on a trio of home games – this one, followed by the visits of Brighton (27th) and Aston Villa (30th).
Gabriel Jesus scored a hat-trick when these two also locked horns in the last eight last season and the Brazilian could get the nod again after his recent return from injury.
Expect Arsenal to rotate, meaning likely starts for midfielder Christian Norgaard, left-back Myles Lewis-Skelly and goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Arsenal expected line-up
(4-3-3) Kepa; Timber, Saliba, Hincapie, Lewis-Skelly; Norgaard, Eze, Merino; Martinelli, Jesus, Madueke.