Arsenal were subject to a huge upset, as Fleetwood Town knocked them out of the EFL Cup on penalties.
Fleetwood took the lead against the Gunners in the 21st minute, as Aaron Loupalo-Bi shrugged off Marli Salmon and found the back of the net, beating Illan Meslier between the sticks.
Mikel Arteta‘s side fought back in the second half, making a double change at the break to bring both Martin Odegaard and Ben White into the fray.
In the 50th minute, Viktor Gyokeres found the back of the net to make it 1-1, pouncing on a loose ball after a cross from Ceadach O’Neill.
But in the 85th minute, Max Dowman was given his marching orders, kicking out at Harrison Neal after the Fleetwood midfielder went in for a tough challenge on the young Arsenal star.
With the Gunners now out of the EFL Cup, many of the youngsters who got their chance to shine in this game are unlikely to get another chance until the FA Cup begins, but some Arsenal players will be more frustrated than others when it comes to the minutes available to them in the coming months.
In this article, we’ll cover
Max Dowman
It feels obvious to start with Dowman, after being sent off against Fleetwood, Arteta seemed to have harsh words for the 16-year-old Arsenal star.
This isn’t the first time Dowman has been sent off, infact, it isn’t even the first time Dowman has been sent off in October, with the young Englishmen also being shown a straight red card for England‘s U19s against USA at the start of the month.
Arteta is clearly a coach that values the mental aspects of the game, both when it comes to channeling your aggression to compete in the right moments, but also being able to compose yourself so it doesn’t go too far.
Dowman will be devastated with Arsenal now crashing out of the competition, not only because of his error, but because the majority of his minutes have come in the cup.
The 16-year-old started against Ipswich in the EFL Cup third round, scoring twice in the game, including a lovely goal to open the scoring, where the fleet-footed youngster skipped past Cedric Kipre like he wasn’t there, barely deviating from his path before slotting it back across goal at the near post.
In the game against Ipswich, Dowman started as the number 10, with Noni Madueke starting on the right, however, against Fleetwood, Dowman started on the right, with Kai Havertz starting in the 10 behind Gyokeres.
With Bukayo Saka suffering from injuries again this season, now looking like he will be out with his latest knock for around six to eight weeks, Madueke will be the starting right winger for Arsenal in all competitions, which leaves Dowman as the natural understudy.
While Dowman will still get some games as the understudy once he has served his suspension, maybe getting five or 10 minutes from the bench in the Premier League, he won’t have the next EFL Cup game to look forward to his next start, with that opportunity now gone, with his next start likely to come in the FA Cup unless Arteta decides to bring him in for a first Champions League start against Slavia Praha.
Viktor Gyokeres
The next player who could suffer with Arsenal being knocked out of the EFL Cup is Gyokeres, as the Swedish striker netted his first goal of the season against Fleetwood during the week.
Infact, outside of the EFL Cup, Gyokeres has only managed a single shot, despite starting two Premier League games and two Champions League games this season.
There is likely to still be enough chances for Gyokeres to shine in the coming weeks in comparison to Dowman, with the Champions League fixture against Slavia Praha next week, followed by a home fixture against Hull City, both of which could be chances for the Sweden international to increase his tally with goals outside the EFL Cup.
However, Gyokeres is clearly someone who could use any confidence boosters he can get, which is why his goal against Fleetwood will do him the world of good, getting off the mark for the season.
But with Havertz ahead of him in the pecking order, Gyokeres’ minutes have largely been from the bench this season, with the EFL Cup being the main competition he could guarantee a start.
Other minute risks?
There will be a number of other players looking to where their next start will come from in an Arsenal shirt.
Piero Hincapie has been behind Ricardo Calafiori this season, who has been in superb form, with the Ecuadorian defender only starting one other game so far this season, starting in the Champions League against Napoli at the start of September.
Martin Zubimendi has also struggled for minutes this season, with Bruno Guimaraes arriving in the summer, who is now above him in the pecking order, along with Declan Rice and Myles Lewis-Skelly when it comes to deeper lying midfielders.
The Spanish midfielder has only started two games this season, with both coming against Fleetwood and Ipswich in the EFL Cup, so much like Dowman and Gyokeres, Zubimendi will not know when his next opportunity from the start will arrive.
Other young stars such as Salmon and O’Neill will know their next opportunities are likely to come in the early stages of the FA Cup, while Meslier won’t even be sure of that, as Kepa Arrizabalaga could be the one starting those games.
While Arteta is clearly a character who wants to win every competition he competes in, Arsenal will now be able to focus on the Premier League and Champions League campaigns until at least the new year, with those waiting in the wings perhaps having to be patient to get any minutes they can from the bench.