Daily Links: The Reserve Team Edition

Will the Great Dane feature?
(Photo courtesy Ronnie Macdonald)

The Arsenal make their season debut in the Capital One Cup this afternoon, as they visit the Hawthorns to face West Bromwich Albion. There were no surprises yesterday as all Premier League sides easily handled their lower-league opposition. Chelsea eased to a 2-0 victory over Swindon, while Manchester City went some way to avenging their FA Cup final defeat with a 5-0 victory over Wigan. Sp*rs fans deluded themselves further with a 4-0 win over a poor Aston Villa team in a worthless competition, and Sunderland were victorious in their first match since Paulo di Canio's sacking.

Having started with two high-scoring games in last season's Cup, Arsenal will be looking to make amends for their disappointing exit at the hands of Bradford City. Traditionally, Arsene Wenger chooses to use the League Cup as a chance to rest his key players and give the reserves and youth players a run out; however West Brom away is nothing to be sniffed at, which is reflected by the match day squad, announced earlier today. (Arsenal.com)


Nicklas Bendtner is likely to start against West Brom tonight, and Arsene Wenger believes the Great Dane will win over the fans in his first start for the Club in over 2 years. [By the way, check out that beard/hair combo on this article - looks like some kind of samurai. I believe in anyone confident enough to wear that!] (Sky Sports)

Arsenal are linked with their second different defender in 2 days. This time it's Martin Hinteregger of Red Bull Salzburg. The 21 year-old Austrian has represented his nation at all youth levels from the Under-17 team through the U-21s. Juventus are also said be interested. (Inside Futbol)

Santi Cazorla believes new-boy Mesut Özil has provided a "big jump in quality" in the Arsenal squad, and says he can't wait to play alongside him. (The Telegraph)

Italy's midfield maestro Andrea Pirlo could be on his way out of Juventus at the end of the season, as manager Antonio Conte assesses whether he merits a new contract. Sources believe that Pirlo would consider moving abroad, and Arsenal are rumored to be one of the many interested clubs. (Daily Mail)

Former Arsenal target Ciprian Marica looks set to join Rayo Vallecano on a free transfer. The Romanian international has been out of contract since leaving Schalke at the end of last season. (talkSPORT)

The Club refused the BBC permission to use branded kits in one of their dramas, because it portrayed Arsenal fans "as criminals". The show, By Any Means, had to use generic red and white jerseys. (Evening Standard)

Infamous Hannibal protege Luis Suarez could return to the Liverpool side for the first time after his 10-match ban for biting Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic. Former Reds forward Robbie Fowler reckons Suarez is on his last chance at Anfield, after a series of bans and agitating for a move away during the last transfer window. (BBC Sport)

Rio Ferdinand, England's famous prankster*, has been listed as a founder of 'The Footies', an Oscars-style award event for soccer. Awards will include Game of the Year, Goal of the Year, Player of the Year... in fact pretty much the same awards that already exist in the PFA Awards and press awards. (The Guardian)

*For those not in the know, Rio hosted a practical joke show before the 2006 World Cup, titled Rio's World Cup Wind-Ups, in which Ferdinand pranked fellow members of the England World Cup squad. It was basically a (very) poor-man's rip-off of Punk'd.