Ahead of today’s Carabao Cup final, Mikel Arteta has made two changes to his side to face Manchester City at Wembley, with Kai Havertz given the opportunity to make an impact from the start.
The boss has been forced to make an enforced switch, with the German forward coming into the side in place of Ebere Eze, who came off in our 2-0 Champions League success on Wednesday.
Havertz both scored and assisted in his most recent appearance against City - our 5-1 win in February 2025, while he also scored the winning goal against the Citizens in the 2021 Champions League final for Chelsea. He has scored eight goals in 13 League Cup appearances.
But as well as Havertz getting an opportunity to impress from the first whistle, Kepa Arrizabalaga has been given the nod to start in goal, having featured in every round.
Meanwhile, Jurrien Timber and Martin Odegaard have lost their quests to be fit for the game, which means Ben White will begin at right-back, and Bukayo Saka will lead us out at the national stadium as we go in search of our third League Cup triumph, and our first since 1993.
Read more Kepa reviews our road to Wembley
Pep Guardiola, meanwhile, has made four changes to his team that were beaten 2-1 by Real Madrid as they exited the Champions League.
As expected, James Trafford starts in goal, as like Kepa he has played in all of City’s Carabao Cup ties to this point, while Ruben Dias misses out, with Nathan Ake coming into the heart of defence in his place.
Another switch in defence sees Nico O’Reilly replace Rayan Ait-Noiuri at left-back, while further upfield Antione Semenyo is preferred to Tijjani Reijnders.
Read more How to watch the Carabao Cup final live on TV
LINE-UPs
Arsenal: Arrizabalaga, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Hincapie, Zubimendi, Rice, Havertz, Saka, Trossard, Gyokeres.Subs: Raya, Calafiori, Lewis-Skelly, Mosquera, Norgaard, Martinelli, Madueke, Dowman, Havertz, Jesus.
Man City: Trafford, Nunes, Khusanov, Ake, O’Reilly, Rodri, Silva, Semenyo, Cherki, Doku, Haaland.Subs: Donarumma, Ait-Nouri, Stones, Kovacic, Gonzalez, Reijnders, Foden, Marmoush, Savinho.
Ahead of the game, you can get all the need-to-know stats, League Cup history, Manchester City's tactics, TV coverage and much more in our comprehensive match preview.
You can also enjoy all our features - including Mikel's incredible Wembley record, a look back at our previous finals, final-related quizzes and more with our Carabao Cup final hub.
Read more Carabao Cup final preview: Arsenal v Man City
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