Winners
Eddie Nketiah
Another start and another goal for Eddie Nketiah. The Arsenal striker was enduring something of a drought despite playing regularly in the Europa League but managed to get a significant boost to his confidence with quite the finish.
Fed by Reiss Nelson after some great from his fellow Arsenal Hale End graduate, Nketiah saw the ball onto his right foot, opened up his body and curled the ball into the far corner. He later hit the post which would have restored the Gunners' lead, but ultimately wasn’t enough to get his team a win.
Mikel Arteta’s schedule
There should be greater disappointment attached to a defeat but with the Premier League title chase on, a Europa League chance and the FA Cup to come, having the club's lowest priority competition out the way is a small silver lining many should be able to get on board with. With Manchester City progressing too it means the Gunners will play one game less, for now, than their nearest challenger for the league.
READ MORE: Why Gabriel Jesus Arsenal critics must be ignored amid Mikel Arteta's Premier League title aim
West Ham United are Arsenal's Boxing Day opponents, and they were beaten on penalties by Blackburn. This means neither side will benefit from a Carabao Cup game on the 20th or 21st of December to ease them back into domestic competition after the World Cup, negating one of the few benefits of an additional fixture in the schedule.
January transfer hopes
Perhaps a loose one because how much one game will affect a club’s plans for a transfer window is minimal at best. However, there is little doubt the game highlighted how little strength in depth the team has. With Emile Smith-Rowe and Takehiro Tomiyasu out the Gunners lacked quality in defence and the forward line that would have otherwise been there.
Yet should Arsenal lose any key performers for a long period, there are concerns that those supporting them aren't close to their standard. Ultimately signing players as good as Gabriel Jesus, Thomas Partey and company isn't realistic in the winter window but certainly, there are players who could be gettable that would help close the gap and push forward the quality needle.
Losers
Karl Hein
It is usually good to see opportunities handed to youngsters in the League Cup. However, after taking an early lead the young goalkeeper was at fault for handing the south coast side their equaliser.
Slipping before then bringing down the former Arsenal forward Danny Welbeck; he then was unable to stop the Brighton man from scoring. Conceding a further two sealed the Gunners' fate and ended what was a debut to forget for the 20-year-old.
Matt Turner
After missing the final two Europa League matches through injury, the Carabao Cup was Matt Turner’s last realistic chance to play before the World Cup. However, the selection of Hein took that away from the American, who will now travel to Qatar having not played for some time.
Turner might have thought he was almost certain to start the game and watching his understudy make the glaring error he might have been thinking he would’ve dealt with the situation better. Aaron Ramsdale is almost certain to return for the trip to Wolves this weekend.
Fabio Vieira
Fabio Vieira endured a very difficult evening. He could never get into the fixture and lost possession carelessly.
Mikel Arteta said after the game that he wasn’t worried about him and said he had been unlucky in front of the goal. Certainly, he needs time to adapt and without a preseason it only heightened the challenge in front of him, he is sure to benefit from the winter break to prepare for the domestic football return.
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