One of the more rare English professional football matches takes place on Wednesday, as Port Vale host Arsenal for the first time ever in the EFL Cup and only the third time in 100 years.

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📂 Port Vale v Arsenal Cheat Sheet

📈 Port Vale v Arsenal Form & Tactics

Darren Moore is a manager who seems to prefer a 3-5-2 system where possible. We can expect this to look more like a 5-3-2 in this match, with the front two also sent to work to win the ball in their own half where possible. This will, in turn, allow the wider central midfielders to help double up in wide areas and combat the threat from Arsenal’s full-backs.

Vale aren’t necessarily a defensive team; they are able to attack with speed and physicality, but they will be concentrating on defensive shape and counter-attacking for this match.

Port Vale are in good form now as well; they have won their last two League One matches after not getting the results that they have deserved up to that point.

Mikel Arteta is very consistent in his general shape, but is very active during the match with lots of small changes on the pitch, which can have a great cumulative effect when compiled together.

The basic shape at the beginning of matches is usually a 4-3-3 with a single holding pivot in the central midfield. The full-backs in the back four are usually players who can play at centre-back as well. This allows Arsenal to defend narrowly when required, but the players are usually supremely comfortable on the ball, so they can play in midfield as well.

Width is provided by the wide forwards, there is a centre-forward whose role, outside of goalscoring, is to link the play intelligently, whilst playmaking and goal threat also come from the pair of #8s either side of a more positionally secure defensive midfielder.

Arsenal have started the season strongly. One narrow defeat to Liverpool and a 1-1 draw with Manchester City are the only points dropped in all competitions so far.

🏁 Ref Watch

Andrew Kitchen

Per game stats from Kitchen's 122 career games.

• This will be Andrew Kitchen's 123rd match as the main official in England, but only his 7th in the League Cup.

• Kitchen has averaged 2.86 yellow cards per match in his career, which is a low average. This includes an average of exactly 3 cards per game in the League Cup.

• This season, he is currently averaging 2.6 yellow cards and 20 fouls per match, including the last round of the League Cup, where he gave two cards (one per team) and 17 fouls in Burnley's 2-1 win over Derby.

📊 Port Vale v Arsenal Stats

• This is only the second time in 16 years that Port Vale have reached the third round of this competition.

• It is the first time that Port Vale and Arsenal have met in the EFL Cup, but Vale have drawn with Arsenal in their only other cup ties in history - 1927 and 1998. Arsenal progressed in both replays.

• Vale produce the highest average number of accurate crosses at 6.4 per match.

• Arsenal have the highest number of touches in the box of any Premier League team so far this season - 160.

• Arsenal have won the joint highest number of corners so far this season in the Premier League - 33.

• Only Newcastle have conceded less xG than Arsenal in the Premier League; Arsenal have conceded 3.3 xG so far.

Football Predictions at Andy's Bet Club

Keep up with our Football Betting Tips, Accumulator Tips, and Gem Bets, as well as EFL Predictions for this week, on Andy's Bet Club.

We've got you covered for Wednesday's EFL Cup action, with Quick Preview coverage of Newcastle v Bradford and Tottenham v Doncaster, as well as Huddersfield v Man City Quick Tips.

If you're eyeing up an accumulator bet for Wednesday's slate, we also have a Europa League Acca, an EFL Cup Acca, and a Match Result + BTTS Acca.

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* I recommend waiting for confirmed team line-ups before placing any bets.

* All odds displayed correct at the time of publishing.