Mikel Arteta faces the press ahead of Carabao Cup quarter-final against Crystal Palace

Ahead of the important Carabao Cup quarter-final against Crystal Palace tomorrow night, Mikel Arteta spoke about how winning this Carabao Cup trophy "could help to create a snowball effect" and also "helps to create something different."
 

Arsenal have not won a major trophy since the FA Cup in 2020, so this provides a massive opportunity for us to grab some silverware this season.

Here is what Mikel Arteta had to say:
 

When asked of the importance of scoring in games that we dominate after two draws in a row: "The frustrating part is watching all the incredible things the team does and still not get rewarded for the three points. Looking back at other games in the league, our margins were ten times bigger than many other teams that have won that day, but this is football. At the end of the day what we have to do is put the ball in the back of the net and then we don't have that issue. What the team is producing and the way the team dominates the game, there is very little to say."
 

Challenges of deciding a game as a player: "Well, a magic moment is not only just to score a goal. A magic moment can be Gabriel last year against Manchester United when he plays the striker offside for millimetres. That's a magic moment as well in my opinion. It doesn't only have to be scoring a goal, but we have players that are capable of doing it. Doing it every three days, that's when you become a world class player, a player that wins games with individual actions and we're trying to develop our players to have more of that because that would be another source of winning games."

When asked about whether both Ethan Nwaneri and Martin Odegaard can play together:
”It depends on who they're surrounded with and what positions they can play. He (Nwaneri) can play as a right attacking midfielder, left attacking midfielder and a winger."

Arteta also spoke about how the young 17-year-old superstar can develop potentially as a number nine due to his "tremendous ability to put the ball into the back of the net."

Arsenal have struggled to score from open play in the Premier League as of recent times. Our last goal was a Kai Havertz strike to give the Gunners a 4-0 advantage away at West Ham in the first half (it finished 5-2).
 

Mikel Arteta: ”That’s always the narrative. When you score five goals and three you're not going to talk about it. That's normal. For us it doesn't change. We want to score three or five. Even though we didn't score on Saturday we want to do better."

The Gunners face Palace back to back this week. First in the Carabao Cup tomorrow and then in the league on Saturday.
 

Arteta on being ready to face a deep block: "They are slightly different. As well, I don't think Fulham wanted to sit back. They have played against Spurs and Liverpool and haven't done that. It's what you're able to do to certain teams. The score has a big impact on that."

Finally on team news, there were concerns about Declan Rice but he is understood to be fine and there is a chance he could be involved tomorrow, according to Mikel Arteta.

However the gaffer confirmed that Alex Zinchenko and Riccardo Calafiori are still out and won't be available for tomorrow night's game.