League Cup,
Round of 16
Fleetwood Town
FLE
27/10/2026
20:00
Arsenal
ARS
-
Venue
- Highbury Stadium
Where to watch Fleetwood v Arsenal: TV channel, live online streams
Kick-off on Tuesday is at 20:00 GMT (16:00 ET / 13:00 PT), with live coverage in the UK on Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Ultra.
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Fleetwood Town v Arsenal EFL Cup preview
It’s the biggest night in Fleetwood’s history as they look to pull off a huge upset against Arsenal in the EFL Cup.
The League Two strugglers – they sit seventh from bottom in England’s fourth tier – will attempt to see off the English champions and joint leaders of the Premier League.
It is the ultimate David versus Goliath clash with the Cod Army 84 places below the Gunners in the pyramid.
Fleetwood boss Matt Lawlor, whose side were beaten 2-1 at Exeter on Saturday and have lost five of their last seven league games, is excited by the challenge of taking on Mikel Arteta’s side at Highbury Stadium.
He said: “The champions are coming to town and they’re coming to our patch. The players need to be excited by it, not overawed by it. The respect is through the roof, but the fear can’t be through the roof.
“We’ve earned a game like this. We’ve had to go through round upon round of tough games, and none of them were easy. To get to where we are, we deserve that.”
Fleetwood have reached the last 16 courtesy of wins over Chesterfield, Shrewsbury and Championship side Sheffield United.
And Lawlor is hoping to replicate the performance they showed against the Blades on Tuesday night.
“I thought the performance that day was excellent,” he said. “We’ve done really well in the cups so far this year, and we need to replicate that tomorrow.
“I want us to have that feeling of togetherness, the crowd, players and club. That’s the kind of feeling I want to build here.”
Arsenal come into the game in good form. They beat Everton 2-0 at the Emirates on Saturday and are unbeaten in their last five games in all competitions. They reached the fourth round with a 4-2 win over Ipswich Town in round three, a game in which Max Dowman scored twice and was named the Player of the Round.
Dowman is likely to be involved again with Arteta set to heavily rotate his side given their demands in the Premier League and Champions League.
Arsenal lost in the final of this competition last season, and they haven’t won it since 1993.
Fleetwood v Arsenal team news
Fleetwood midfielder Andy Cannon is available for selection but is likely to be on the bench. Finley Potter is also fit despite suffering a nasty gash above his eye.
Kane Thompson-Summers and Will Johnson are still sidelined.
Arteta is set to make wholesale changes. Kepa Arrizabalaga is expected to start in goal, with Piero Hincapié returning from his ankle injury and young defender Josh Salmon likely to get a chance at centre-back.
Dowman, Andre Harriman-Annous and Eberechi Eze are expected to lead the attack. Arsenal are still without William Saliba, Christos Tzolis and Bukayo Saka.
Fleetwood Town v Arsenal Carabao Cup predicted line ups
Fleetwood: Lynch; Rooney, Haughey, Potter; Neal, McCann, McLean, Helm, Batty; Evans, Coughlan
Arsenal: Kepa; Timber, Salmon, Mosquera, Hincapié; Zubimendi, Lewis-Skelly, Merino; Dowman, Harriman-Annous, Eze
Fleetwood v Arsenal stats, recent form
- Fleetwood have reached the fourth round for the first time as part of their 15th EFL Cup campaign, their previous best runs finishing in the third round in 2022/23 and 2020/21
- Town’s last two exits from the competition have come via penalties, losing 7-6 at Barnsley after a 2-2 draw in last season’s first round and 3-2 at Stoke City after their third-round tie finished 1-1 in 2024/25
- Since a 1-0 defeat to Everton in the second round in August 2022, Fleetwood have won five successive home EFL Cup ties
- Following upsets against West Bromwich Albion and Rotherham United in 2023/24 – both finishing 2-1 – they have kept clean sheets in all three of their EFL Cup ties at Highbury Stadium this season, beating Chesterfield and Sheffield United 1-0 either side of a 4-0 victory against Shrewsbury Town
- A 2-1 defeat to Rochdale in League Two on September 26 is Fleetwood’s only defeat in their last 12 home matches in all competitions (W6 D5)
- Arsenal have won nine of their last 12 matches in the EFL Cup, losing last season’s final against Manchester City and suffering two defeats to Newcastle in the 2024/25 semi-finals
- The defeat to City extended their 33-year wait to lift the trophy for a third time, having triumphed in 1987 and 1993
- Five of Arsenal’s last six defeats have been away from the Emirates Stadium, including a loss at a team from a lower division at Championship club Southampton in the FA Cup quarter-finals on April 4
Fleetwood Town v Arsenal prediction
Fleetwood have had a fantastic run and this game will provide much-needed publicity, and cash, for the club. But they will obviously struggle to match Arsenal’s power. Even though Arteta will make wholesale changes, the depth of Arsenal’s squad means the visitors will stroll through.
Fleetwood Town
0 – 4
Arsenal
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: 101greatgoals.com
