Arsenal were knocked out of the League Cup in the third round last season, and Arsene Wenger will hope for a better outcome this time around when they face off against Tottenham at White Hart Lane on Wednesday.
The North London Derby was the one that immediately caught the eye when the third round draw for the Capital One Cup was made, and Arsenal, who lost to Southampton in the same stage last season, and Spurs will want to live up to the billing by putting on a derby to remember.
Spurs come into this game in better form, having won their last three matches, while Arsenal have lost two on the trot – to Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League and Chelsea in the English Premier League.
The difficult aspect for Arsenal, going into this match, will be to get over that 2-0 loss to Chelsea, when a Gabriel red card, after a fracas with Diego Costa, late in the first half completely changed the game.
Wenger admitted he will deploy a strong lineup for the match against Spurs, refraining from his usual penchant to field youngsters in League Cup matches.
"At the moment the youth-team players, many of whom are ready to play for us, are away on loan," Wenger told Arsenal Player.
"The next players who have the talent are not completely ready to play at that level. With the difficulty of the opponent as well, you do not want to throw them into a game where they look out of place.
"There are no fringe players, there is only a first-team squad. It is an opportunity for Arsenal to win an important game and for the players who play for the club to defend our club and qualify. Apart from that, we played with the team in Zagreb and we didn't win, so we want to come back now and win our cup games because that's vital for us."
Tottenham took a while to get started this season, but they are slowly getting into their groove, and what better tonic to really launch their season than with a win over their biggest rivals.
"Derbies are special," Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino told the club's official website. "It's a different game. Our supporters have that expectation to win. It's impossible to guess what will happen but one thing is for sure, we need to play at 100%.
"We are ready and our motivation is big to play this game on Wednesday."
Team news: Tottenham: Midfielders Mousa Dembele, Nabil Bentaleb and Ryan Mason are all ruled out with foot, ankle and knee injuries respectively.
Arsenal: Jack Wilshere, Danny Welbeck and Tomas Rosicky remain on the sidelines, while Francis Coquelin misses this Capital One Cup game with the knee injury picked up against Chelsea, with Santi Cazorla suspended. Per Mertesacker returns after missing the last couple of weeks through illness. Gabriel has had his red card rescinded, after Arsenal won an appeal, but he will probably start on the bench, considering Wenger went into this game thinking the Brazilian will not be available for selection.
Where to Watch Live
Get the north London derby highlights and goals HERE
Arsenal vs Tottenham is scheduled for a 12.15 am IST (7.45 pm BST, 2.45 pm ET) start with live coverage in India on Ten Action and Ten HD. The match can also be watched via live streaming online in India on Ten Sports Live.
Viewers in the UK can watch the League Cup third round match live on Sky Sports 1, while the match can also be live streamed online on Sky Go.
Audience in the US, Canada, France, Middle East, North Africa and Australia can watch the north London derby live on Bein Sports, while the live stream option is on Bein Sports Connect.
