Our Carabao Cup campaign continues at Highbury Stadium as we take on Fleetwood Town on Tuesday, October 27, at 8pm (UK time).

While the home ground may sound familiar, it will be our first-ever trip to Fleetwood's home in the northwest.

The League Two outfit have beaten Chesterfield, Shrewsbury and Championship side Sheffield United to reach the last 16. Find out all you need to know about our clash against The Fishermen with our preview below!

MAKING HISTORY

Fleetwood Town went from the sixth tier of English football in 2009 to finishing fourth in League One in just eight seasons. 

After spending nine years in League One, they were relegated to League Two in 2023, where they have been ever since. 

Despite that meteoric rise in the 2010s, Fleetwood's history with the Carabao Cup hasn't pulled up any trees - until this season.

Two victories over fellow League Two sides Chesterfield and Shrewsbury Town set up a home clash with Championship outfit Sheffield United. A Rhys Norrington-Davies own goal gave The Cods the win and a spot in the round of 16 for the first time in their history.

They've yet to get going in League Two this season, winning only three matches and just one in their last eight games. But Matt Lawlor's men will be putting that to one side as they look to reach their first-ever quarter-final.

WHAT THE MANAGERS SAY

Arteta: “Our reputation, our pride, everything is in play. So every time you play a football match, and especially against a team in a different division, respect the game, respect every opponent because they deserve that, and then try to win and try to play a bit better than them.

"We know the risk, and in football, things can get very equal the moment you are able to match certain things, and that's why our basics and habits have to be through the roof to be able to win the game."

Lawlor: “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.”

TEAM NEWS

Piero Hincapie and Cristhian Mosquera were both named on the bench for our home victory over Everton, with the former making a matchday squad once again after missing our draw with Bayern. Mosquera is yet to feature since coming off with an injury in a 1-0 win over Aston Villa but has been in the last three matchday squads.

Mikel Arteta ruled out Bukayo Saka before our match against the Toffees as he undergoes further assessment. He joins William Saliba and Christos Tzolis on the treatment table as the pair work hard to return to first-team action.

As for our hosts, midfielder Andy Cannon has returned to training and is available for selection, although manager Matt Lawlor said he will manage his minutes.

Defender Finley Potter is also available despite suffering a cut above his eye. Midfielder Kane Thompson-Sommers and defender Will Johnson are injured and will miss the match.

TALKING TACTICS

Adrian Clarke: “Under Matt Lawlor, Fleetwood Town like to play in a 3-1-4-2 formation, so it will be fascinating to see if they are brave enough to start with two centre forwards against us. If they do opt for a little more pragmatism, that shape could easily morph into a 5-4-1 without causing major disruption. 

“Lawlor has another tactical quandary ahead of this cup tie, and that’s over how much he wants to urge his players to press us. In League Two they are the best ‘pressing outfit’, producing the most press sequences, and second highest number of high turnovers. If they play their natural game, it could help them earn opportunities to score, but if we play through them the rearguard may become very exposed.  

“Fleetwood Town are a strong set piece side, netting six league goals already from those situations. In general, the Fylde Coast minnows are at their best when delivering crosses into the danger zone. They rank second in their division for quantity of open play crosses. With goalscorers Ronan Coughlan and Ched Evans attacking those balls, they do present a threat from those situations.

“In terms of individuals, keep your eye on buccaneering right wing back Lewis McCann. The Scot is an aggressive ball winner, who likes to power forward and whip crosses into the box.

“Fleetwood’s most creative player is midfielder Mark Helm. He’s laid on 23 chances, 22 from open play, which is 10 more than anyone else in the squad."

FACTS AND STATS

We have never played Fleetwood in any competition. The Cod Army are winless in all five of their matches against top-flight opponents in their history (D1 L4).

Fleetwood will be the 68th different team we've faced in the League Cup. We've lost only one of the last 18 clubs they have faced (W13 D4), a 1-0 defeat to Wigan in January 2006.

This is our 10th League Cup tie against a side from the fourth tier of English football. We've progressed from eight of our nine previous ties but were knocked out by Bradford City in 2012-/13 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in our most recent game.

For the first time in their history, Fleetwood Town have reached the League Cup fourth round. Before this season, they'd only progressed from six out of 20 ties and kept just one clean sheet in 20 games – but the Cod Army are yet to concede this season. The last fourth tier side to keep four clean sheets in a season was Tranmere Rovers in 1988/89.

Eberechi Eze has been involved in seven goals in his last four League Cup appearances against sides from outside the Premier League (two goals, five assists), scoring in our 2-0 win over Port Vale last season.

Max Dowman scored twice in the third round at Ipswich aged just 16 years and 258 days. He has made three appearances in the League Cup – the only player to play more before the age of 17 for Premier League clubs is Harvey Elliott, who made four appearances for Fulham (one) and Liverpool (three) before turning 17.

MATCH OFFICIALS

Michael Salisbury is the man with the whistle for our match against Fleetwood Town. He has refereed us twice before - a 4-0 win over Bournemouth in September 2023 and a 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace in April 2025.

There will be no VAR for our visit to Highbury Stadium. This is because of the EFL ruling that VAR can be used only in rounds of the competition when every stadium hosting a match has access to the technology.

If scores are level at 90 minutes, match goes straight to penalties. Should we progress, the draw will take place on Wednesday evening, live on Sky Sports Main Event.

Referee: Michael Salisbury

Assistants: Matthew Wilkes and Alex James

Fourth official: Lewis Smith

LIVE COVERAGE

Sky Sports Main Event is your place to watch our trip to Fleetwood Town, which kicks off at 8pm UK time.