What was this? The strongest available selection put out at Liverpool for a third round FA Cup tie? Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Arsene could not put his Carling Cup team out twice in the space of four days. Or just maybe, for now, Le Boss had decided he doesn’t want to get knocked out of the domestic Cups at the earliest opportunity. Certainly, historically, he has rested players from FA Cup matches up to and including the semi-final, making Arsenal’s recent success in the competition all the more remarkable. And in previous campaigns, it testified to the strength in depth of the first team squad.

However, maybe there is a realisation that the squad is not quite so deep this year, or at least the number of injuries and the suspension of Cesc made it a case of having to actually play all of the available big guns to ensure a morale-sapping humiliation against Liverpool. My suspicion is that Arsene will revert to type in the fourth round and that players will be rested, so let’s not get too optimistic about playing in the first final at the rebuilt Wembley just yet.

Even so, it was a huge scalp, and as often in the Cup, the winning side rode their luck. I’d say the Gilberto/Alonso incident was a definite penalty, and defensively, there were no shortage of opportunities for the home side to match Arsenal’s tally. There seems little chance of extended Champions League progress if the team play like this when the opposition are in possession.

In fairness, though, this was a very English game, in the best possible way. The 4-4-2 formation which would not have been repeated for a European away leg indicated that this was a death or glory exercise. Win or lose Wenger could live with, but the one thing he definitely did not want was a draw.

The first two goals came from outside of the area, and from Tomas Rosicky. Great strikes both of them, it exposed Arsenal’s folly of not making the most of opportunities from these kind of areas. Hopefully the short passing game around the edge of the box might now be balanced with a few more efforts on goal.

It was pointed out that since the year 2000, Arsenal, when they haven’t been defending this trophy, have knocked out the holders every year – Chelsea in 2001, Liverpool in 2002, Man United in 2005 and now Liverpool again. As an omen going into the tie, it wasn’t one I was aware of, but I’m not sure I would have put much store in it anyway. Once you start believing in these things, they generally come to an abrupt halt.

I’m actually looking forward to Tuesday night. It’s almost a no lose match. What are the odds of Wenger’s shadow team beating both Spurs and Chelsea in this competition? And being beaten by either of those two in a Cup match would not make for a pleasant experience. I suspect Arsene’s team will be weaker than that Benitez puts out as with the FA Cup gone and Barcelona in the next round of the Champions League, reality suggests that the Carling Cup will be the best chance of silverware for Liverpool this season. And frankly, if Arsene doesn’t want replays in the FA Cup, he’ll not much fancy the intensity of a two-legged semi final against the near neighbours.

Still, on the other side of the coin, if Wenger were to line up, say, Almunia, Hoyte, Gallas, Djourou, Lauren (resting Clichy at left back), Walcott, Fabregas, Flamini, Denilson, Baptista (Freddie’s still injured isn’t he?) and Adebayor on Tuesday evening, it would certainly give Liverpool something to think about in terms of the sheer unpredictability of such a line-up. There would also be the element of total unfamiliarity amongst the Arsenal players though! So I am certainly not viewing the re-match with any sense of optimism. Still, twenty years on from that semi-final epic in the League Cup v Spurs, wouldn’t it be surreal to go through all that again. I have a distant recall of Arsenal being a fair bit under-strength for those matches too. Remember Ian Allinson? Great days.