The top two in the Premier League face off in the first final of the season at Wembley Stadium, Arsenal looking for their first trophy since the 2020 FA Cup, Manchester City looking for their first since the 2024 Premier League title.
Arsenal haven’t played a fixture at Wembley since beating Chelsea 2-1 in 2020, but the route they have had to Wembley has come with challenges that they have managed to navigate.
The Gunners navigated through Port Vale in Round 3 with goals in each half from Eberechi Eze and Leandro Trossard.
From there, it has been all Premier League affairs, another 2-0 win in Round 4, this time over Brighton, thanks to second-half goals from Ethan Nwaneri and Bukayo Saka.
It took penalties in the quarter-final to get past Crystal Palace, Maxence Lacroix missing the decisive kick after Marc Guehi’s added-time equaliser cancelled out Arsenal’s own goal opener.
The Gunners put in a stellar performance to get past Chelsea over two legs, winning 3-2 at Stamford Bridge before putting in a brilliant defensive performance at home, where Kai Havertz last gasp goal sent the Gunners to the final 4-2 on aggregate.
The biggest selection choice for Mikel Arteta will be whether Kepa keeps his place like he has throughout the entire competition, or whether David Raya comes in between the sticks.
Jurrien Timber will still likely undergo a late fitness test after he missed the Bayer Leverkusen second leg. Ben White played there on Wednesday, though Cristian Mosquera has also had cameos at right-back this season, despite predominantly being a centre-back
The midfield likely picks itself with Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi both expected to retain their spots in the lineups.
Eze is still waiting to be seen following his having to come off with a knock in the Champions League. If he does not make it, then it will likely be Kai Havertz playing as a 10, or Bukayo Saka moving into a central role, and Noni Madueke coming to play on the right-hand side.
Arsenal have not won the League Cup since goals from Steve Morrow and Paul Merson saw the Gunners come from behind to beat Sheffield Wednesday 2-1.
Since then, they have played in 3 finals across two different decades.
2007 - 2-1 L vs Chelsea
2011- 2-1 L vs Birmingham City
2018 - 3-0 L vs Manchester City
This is the Gunners’ first League Cup final since they were thumped by Pep Guardiola’s City side in 2018, Sergio Aguero, David Silva, and Vincent Kompany condemning Arsene Wenger in what was to be his last cup final.
With four trophies still in play for Arsenal, a first win of the League Cup since 1993 would mean everything to them, but against a side that has dominated the competition in Guardiola’s time with City, repeating the trophy from 2018 to 2021.