{"id":2123,"date":"2026-03-22T19:27:29","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T19:27:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/osport.com.ng\/?p=2123"},"modified":"2026-03-22T19:27:29","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T19:27:29","slug":"such-a-shame-the-biggest-mistake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/?p=2123","title":{"rendered":"\u201cSuch a shame\u201d, \u201cThe biggest mistake\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"article-content\" data-postid=\"5142750\" data-slug-id=\"2755774\">\n<div class=\"vidazoo-player-container\">\n<span class=\"vidazoo-close-btn  hidden \"><br \/>\n<img data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/cmc-predictor\/v2\/cross-icon.png?w=40\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\" alt=\"close\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Arsenal fans on X are fuming at Mikel Arteta after he included Kepa Arrizabalaga in the starting XI over David Raya to face Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final. The two sides are set to lock horns at Wembley Stadium later today (Sunday, March 22).<\/p>\n<p>Kepa Arrizabalaga starts in goal for the Gunners, while Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes and Piero Hincapie make up the defence. The midfield consists of Declan Rice, Martin Zubimendi and Kai Havertz. Bukayo Saka, Leandro Trossard and Viktor Gyokeres will start up front to complete the starting XI.<\/p>\n<p><template id=\"template__newsletter-inline-banner-form-combo-widget\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"wrapper\">\n<p><img id=\"subscribe-img\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Thanks for the submission!\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<p><template id=\"also-read-articles-template\"><\/p>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<p>Raya has been outstanding for Arsenal this season, keeping 21 clean sheets in 40 appearances across all competitions. However, Kepa has been the go-to star in the Carabao Cup and FA Cup this season and has kept four clean sheets in nine appearances in all competitions.<\/p>\n<p>However, fans are unhappy with Arteta handing Kepa his sixth Carabao Cup start of the season due to the magnitude of the game, with one posting:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;Why will you start Kepa in a game of this magnitude? Such a shame&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Another fan tweeted:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;The biggest mistake here is not starting Raya. I hope the defense protects him all through.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Other fans reacted below:<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h2>&#8220;I think it\u2019ll be a really, really tight game&#8221; &#8211; Alan Shearer predicts winner of Arsenal vs Manchester City ahead of Carabao Cup final<\/h2>\n<p>Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer has backed Arsenal to narrowly defeat Manchester City in the upcoming Carabao Cup final, claiming he wouldn&#8217;t be surprised if the game went to penalties.<\/p>\n<p>The Gunners have a great chance of winning the quadruple this season and will be aiming to secure their first trophy of the 2025-26 campaign. While they narrowly defeated Crystal Palace 9-8 on penalties in the quarter-finals, Mikel Arteta and Co. beat Chelsea 4-2 on aggregate in the semi-finals to progress to the final. On the other hand, Manchester City defeated Newcastle 5-1 on aggregate in the semi-finals.<\/p>\n<p>Days after witnessing Real Madrid eliminate the Cityzens in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16, Shearer told <em>Betfair <\/em>(via <em>METRO<\/em>):<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;I think it\u2019ll be a great game. I think there\u2019ll be loads of talking points. It wouldn\u2019t even surprise me if it went to penalties. But I think Arsenal might just nick it. I think it\u2019ll be a really, really tight game, but I\u2019m going to go for an Arsenal win.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The Gunners last faced City in the Premier League at the Emirates Stadium, salvaging a 1-1 draw following Gabriel Martinelli&#8217;s last-minute equalizer on September 21, 2025.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-post-rating-widget\">\n<p><template id=\"post-rating-feedback-modal-template\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-feedback-box\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-content\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-data\">\n<p>Why did you not like this content?<\/p>\n<p><textarea id=\"dislike-feedback-text\" rows=\"4\" placeholder=\"Please type your feedback...\"\/>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<button class=\"close\">Cancel<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"submit\">Submit<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-widget-parent hidden\">\n<div class=\"rating-parent-container\">\n<div class=\"rating-content-holder\">\n<p>Was this article helpful?<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-action-container\">\n<div class=\"like-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-like-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"like\" title=\"like article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"like selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dislike-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-dislike-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"dislike\" title=\"dislike article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-dis-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"avatar selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Thank You for feedback\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"tag-cloud\">\n<div class=\"tags-text\">\n<div class=\"scrollable-content-holder  article-padding\">\n<p class=\"article-p  \">Quick Links<\/p>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerLeft\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Left \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img style=\"background: none;\" data-lazy=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-left.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button><\/p>\n<nav id=\"pnProductNav\" class=\"pn-ProductNav\">\n<\/nav>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerRight\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Right \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img style=\"background: none;\" data-lazy=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-right.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<p>More from Sportskeeda<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<span class=\"publisher-name\">Edited by Silas Sud<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Arsenal fans on X are fuming at Mikel Arteta after he included Kepa Arrizabalaga in<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2124,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2123"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2123\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}