Chelsea host Arsenal in the first leg of their 2025-26 Carabao Cup semi-final tie.
Chelsea overcame Cardiff in a tough away Quarter-Final tie to reach this stage, whilst Arsenal scraped past Crystal Palace on penalties after a 1-1 draw in their Quarter-Final encounter.
Teams
Malo Gusto, Reece James and Cole Palmer are doubts for Chelsea after they missed the Blues’ 5-1 FA Cup third-round victory at Charlton, due to knocks.
Marc Cucurella (suspension), Romeo Lavia (quad), Levi Colwill (ACL), Dario Essugo (thigh) and Mykhailo Mudryk (suspension) are still sidelined.
Arsenal could welcome William Saliba and Leandro Trossard back into contention subject to fitness checks, after the pair sat out the Gunners’ FA Cup comeback victory at Portsmouth.
Piero Hincapie (groin), Riccardo Calafiori (muscle), Cristhian Mosquera and Max Dowman (both ankle) remain sidelined.
When is Kick-Off?
Chelsea host Arsenal at Stamford Bridge, London, on Wednesday 14 January at 8pm GMT, live on Sky Sports Main Event and Football channels in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Chelsea have avoided defeat in five of eight previous League Cup meetings against Arsenal (W4, D1, L3).
- Arsenal are yet to win away at Chelsea in the League Cup (D1, L1).
- Both teams have advanced once each from their two previous two-legged League Cup semi-final meetings.
- Chelsea have failed to keep a clean sheet in this season’s competition (W3).
- Arsenal have won two of their three matches so far in this season’s competition by 2-0 results, except for a penalty shootout win over Crystal Palace in the Quarter-Final after a 1-1 draw.
Prediction
Having cruised to a dominant victory over Charlton in their first official match under Liam Rosenoir, Chelsea now face a much tougher test in their first home game under his watch because Arsenal are a step up in quality compared to the Addicks.
Rosenoir though will be buoyed by the attacking flair that his team displayed in that game but given how similar his style is to that of his precedessor – Enzo Maresca albeit with more attacking intensity, he will need to find a way to ensure that the back line stays solid against a fierce well-organised team like Arsenal.
Speaking of the Gunners, it is credit to Mikel Arteta’s squad investment over the years that his much-changed line-up at Portsmouth was still a strong first-team, underlining their depth but those returning will need to produce a more composed display than their goalless top-flight draw against Liverpool last week.
Stamford Bridge though will be a tricky ground to visit for the first leg given that it’s Rosenoir’s first match in charge of Chelsea, but I do think that Arsenal have enough quality to grind something out here then finish the job at home.
Prediction: Chelsea 1-1 Arsenal
Result: Chelsea 2-3 Arsenal
Leave a Reply