Preview: Arsenal v Chelsea

We host Chelsea in the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg at Emirates Stadium at 8pm (UK time), looking to reach our first final in the competition for eight years.

Goals from Ben White, Viktor Gyokeres and Martin Zubimendi helped us take a 3-2 lead back to N5, with a draw or win over Liam Rosenior's side enough to see us through to the final at Wembley on March 22.

resurgent under Rosenior

Liam Rosenior has enjoyed a fine start to life as Chelsea boss. The former defender has won all of his league matches in charge, as well as two Champions League victories and a 5-1 win over Charlton in the FA Cup.

Rosenior's one blemish is the 3-2 defeat to us at Stamford Bridge last month, as the Blues look to overturn a first-leg loss to make a fourth Carabao Cup final in seven years.

Chelsea's most recent result saw them come from 2-0 down to beat West Ham United 3-2 at Stamford Bridge, the first time the west London club had come from two goals down at half-time to win a Premier League match.

what the managers say

Arteta: “Yes, I mean the next one is always the most important one and it is the closest at least to reach a final,” he explained. “And tomorrow we are going to have people who really need to create the atmosphere, the energy, the belief that we are going to do it. Altogether, I am sure we are very capable of doing that.” - every word below from his pre-match press conference.

Rosenior: "The reality is that Arsenal are favourites for the tie. They're a goal up and they're at home, so they'll expect to go through. We need to take it as far as we can and as deep as we can, then hopefully the second half will be massive in terms of turning the tie around."

Team news

Mikel Merino will be out of the semi-final second leg following the announcement he will undergo surgery on his foot after picking up the injury against Manchester United.

Boss Mikel Arteta also said Bukayo Saka will be assessed ahead of the match after our winger pulled up in the warm-up before our 4-0 win over Leeds United.

As for our visitors, Rosenior confirmed Chelsea would be without Jamie Gittens after he was substituted off against West Ham United in the first half.

Winger Estevao could also miss the contest for personal reasons, and goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen is also a doubt.

Talking Tactics

Adrian Clarke, writing in our official matchday programme: Liam Rosenior likes a 4-2-3-1 shape that is set up to utilise Chelsea’s pace and dynamism on the wings. You will often see the Blues playing risky passes out from the back or in midfield, trying to break the lines, and from those positions, his side regularly looks to raid down the flanks, where Pedro Neto and Alejandro Garnacho are all encouraged to run at full-backs.

The new head coach has proven himself to be adaptable from a tactical perspective in his previous roles, so nothing is set in stone. What we do know, is that ideally, he wants his teams to be aggressive, attack-minded, and controlled in possession.

Tonight’s opponents create lots of chances, with their expected goals tally around the same as ours so far in Premier League action. They also finish very well, boasting the fourth-best conversion rate in top-flight football during 2025/26.

When it comes to tucking away ‘big chances’ they are even more efficient, ranking second, with a success rate just shy of 50%. Set pieces are also a core strength for the west Londoners, who scored from corners in each of our previous two meetings this season. Reece James’ near-post deliveries have a lot of quality.

Facts and Stats

We’re looking to reach the EFL Cup final for the ninth time, and first since 2017/18. Before this season, only two of the 32 teams to win the first leg of a semi-final tie away from home have been eliminated – West Ham in 1971-72 (vs Stoke) and Tottenham in 1986-87 (vs Arsenal).

We are unbeaten in our last nine meetings with Chelsea in all competitions (W6 D3), our longest against them since a 17-game run between 1999-2004.

Chelsea have lost their last three away games against us in all competitions, last losing more consecutively between 1990 and 1994 (5). However, both their wins against Mikel Arteta have come at Emirates Stadium (December 2019, August 2021).

Of players to have played at least 180 minutes in the EFL Cup this season, only Rubin Colwill (4.2) has averaged more chances created per 90 minutes than Bukayo Saka (3.7).

Match Officials

Peter Bankes will take charge of our Carabao Cup semi-final at Emirates Stadium. The 43-year-old has refereed one of our matches this season, our 2-1 defeat at Villa Park in December. He also officiated our 5-1 win over Manchester City in February 2025.

Edward Smart and Blake Antrobus will be Bankes' assistants for the match, with Thomas Bramall the fourth official. James Bell is the Video Assistant Referee and Daniel Robathan will be his assistant at Stockley Park.

Referee: Peter Bankes

Assistant Referees: Edward Smart and Blake Antrobus

Fourth official: Thomas Bramall

VAR: James Bell

Assistant VAR: Daniel Robathan

Could the game go to extra-time?

Unlike the previous rounds of the competition, should the scores be level on aggregate at the end of 90 minutes, extra time will be played.

In the quarter-final against Crystal Palace, the match finished 1-1 after 90 minutes, meaning the game headed for spot kicks, where we triumphed 8-7.

However, the rules are different for the semi-final second legs and the final. If the aggregate score is the same at the end of extra time, the match will be decided by penalties.

London Derbies

Chelsea's last visit to Emirates Stadium came in March 2025, with Merino netting the only goal of the game, and we were also successful the last time Chelsea visited N5 in the Carabao Cup semi-finals, back in February 2018.

Having drawn the first leg 0-0 at Stamford Bridge, Eden Hazard opened the scoring for the Blues in the second leg before an own goal and Granit Xhaka's instinctive second-half finish turned it around for Arsene Wenger's side to send us through to the final.

Live Coverage

It's a big one at Emirates Stadium and to mark the occasion, we've got a big line-up for our special preview show, Live From N5!

Special guests, preview analysis and much more is in store, so make sure you tune into Arsenal.com at 7pm to get you in the mood for the semi-final action!

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