The Football League will meet today to decide on implementing a new rule to boost interest in the Capital One sponsored League Cup, which has routinely been dismissed by the big Premier League clubs since the introduction of the Champions League group stages.
The idea which has gathered most interest from board members is the handicapping system which means the top Premier League teams will give smaller teams anything from a one goal start, right up to a four or five goal start.
The idea was suggested after Arsenal trailed fellow Premier League rivals Reading 4-0 after 37 minutes, but decided to start playing seriously and eventually won 7-5 in extra-time.
A league insider said "Its a great idea. We need more 12 goal thrillers, so we're going to pass this rule that the big four have to concede a four goal start to smaller teams, through slack defending or what have you, and then after that they can start playing properly. I predict within six months to a year the League Cup will be the number one priority for Arsene Wenger and other managers - not fifth behind Champions League, Premier League, Champions League qualification and FA Cup."
A spokesman for Arsenal said Wenger did not see the incident, er idea.
