:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/2413549/155019671.0.jpg)
Arsenal have been a bit fortunate in the draw for the Capital One Cup quarterfinals, as they have avoided the specter of Chelsea and, well I guess Aston Villa, and will face League Two's Bradford away. The Gunners will be heavy (HEAVY) favorites, but after allowing five goals to Reading, I guess anything could happen.
Most of the contenders are out. Manchester United fell minutes ago against Chelsea's potent attack, though it took a late equalizing penalty and extra time for the Blues to do it. Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur are also eliminated, to Swansea and Norwich City respectively. Though I tempted karma by poking fun at Aston Villa a moment ago, I'll level it by noting that they eliminated Manchester City in the last round. Other than Chelsea, basically every team left is one Arsenal should be beating.
CAPITAL ONE CUP Q-FINAL DRAW - Leeds v Chelsea, Swansea v Middlesbrough, Norwich v Aston Villa, Bradford v Arsenal #bbcfootball
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) October 31, 2012
Granted, we should be beating Norwich, or Birmingham City, so nothing's assured. But the road could be much tougher.
Bradford defeated Wigan today to get to this point, holding them scoreless for 120 minutes to take it to penalties, so they can defend a Premier League side. They're fifth in League Two and have conceded 18 times, so that may be more of an outlier than the norm, but they certainly have the potential to put the stopper on a game.
The match will be played the week of December 10th. The fixture list on the dot-com says Wednesday the 12th, but we'll see about that.