After progressing in the FA Cup, we turn our attentions to the Carabao Cup as we head to Chelsea for the first leg of the semi-final on Wednesday at 8pm (UK time).
We defeated Port Vale, Brighton and Crystal Palace to reach the final four of the competition for a second season in a row and now face our London rivals in a two-legged affair to reach Wembley.
Mikel Arteta will be hoping it’s a repeat of our previous League Cup semi-final match-up against the Blues, when we triumphed 2-1 in 2018, courtesy of Granit Xhaka’s second half strike.
Rosenior on song
It’s all change at Stamford Bridge with Enzo Maresca departing as Chelsea head coach on New Year’s Day, following 18 months in charge. He was replaced by Liam Rosenior on a six-year deal.
Rosenior has previously worked at Hull City and RC Strasbourg, in France, before taking over the west London outfit, and got his tenure off to the perfect start with a 5-1 win over Charlton in the FA Cup.
Chelsea have beaten League One sides Lincoln City and Cardiff City, as well as Premier League outfit Wolves, on their way to the final four of this competition, as the Blues aim to reach the final for the fourth time in seven years.
what the managers say
Arteta: Football gives you another chance, we’ve been really consistent again in the competition and now we have to knock another big team out of the competition to be in the final and that’s the mission. Hopefully we’ll learn from last year because it was painful, especially in the manner that the games went and the amount of chances that we missed not to go through, but hopefully this year we are better and hopefully more efficient.
Read more of Mikel’s press conference with our article below!
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Every word from Mikel Arteta’s pre-Chelsea presser
Rosenior: “We need to have a really, really good game on Wednesday. But I’m confident in the group that they’ve shown, and not just in the time before me, but in the last few days, they’re really hungry.”
“They really believe in themselves and it’s going to be a really, really good occasion on Wednesday night.”
team news
Piero Hincapie, Riccardo Calafiori and Cristhian Mosquera are all out for the trip to west London as the trio of defenders aim to recover from their respective injuries.
Mikel also revealed that William Saliba and Leandro Trossard are both doubts after missing our trip to Portsmouth in the FA Cup.
As for our opponents, the Blues will be without Moises Caicedo through suspension after picking up multiple yellow cards in the previous rounds.
Malo Gusto, Reece James and Cole Palmer, who all missed Chelsea’s win against Charlton in the FA Cup, are all doubts, with a decision to be made on their fitness ahead of the first leg.
talking tactics
Former Gunner Adrian Clarke has looked at our opponents before we head to west London.
He said: “Liam Rosenior’s first game in charge at Stamford Bridge presents a tactical trip into the unknown. He is a versatile head coach who can happily switch between a back three and back four, using 3-4-2-1 on ten occasions this season with previous club Strasbourg.
“The most likely scenario is that he will not deviate from the 4-2-3-1 he inherited and used against Charlton Athletic last weekend. It is a shape which suits their personnel, especially out wide where he is spoilt for choice when it comes to talented wingers.
“No matter who plays, Chelsea will raid down the flanks as a matter of course. In previous roles that has been a key part of Rosenior’s approach anyway, so with Pedro Neto, Alejandro Garnacho, Estevao and Jamie Gittens at his disposal, he will target wide areas and demand that they take on our full backs.
“In our league meeting the Blues were aggressive and forceful. Looking to press us at every opportunity – even with ten men – they made it a hostile encounter. Will the new head coach follow that path? He does like his teams to press, but in a semi-final first leg we may see a little more pragmatism this time. Let’s see.
“Set pieces will be important for Chelsea. Reece James clips lovely inswinging corners into the box from the left, as we found to our cost when Trevoh Chalobah scored against in late November from a near post flick. The England international is also a classy free kick taker, so showing discipline with our tackling is going to be important. With 12 set play goals to their name in the Premier League, dead balls will be a threat on Wednesday evening.
“Chelsea’s main weaknesses are at the back. They do not have a settled rearguard, so partnerships and a lack of chemistry could be an issue when put under pressure. That is why we must show adventure inside the opposition half and flood their box with numbers every time get onto the front foot. The more chaos the Blues’ defenders have to deal with, the better.
“Ten top-flight teams have a better expected goals against record than Chelsea, who have let in just under six fewer goals than the stats suggest they should have done. They have also gone seven games in all competitions without a clean sheet.
“I expect us to create chances and score in this first leg.”
facts and stats
This is the third time we’ve face Chelsea in the League Cup semi-final, with the Blues progressing in 1997/98 and Arsenal going through in 2017/18. It’s the fourth fixture to have been played three or more times in the semi-finals of the competition (Arsenal v Spurs, Chelsea v Spurs and Man City v Man Utd all on 4).
Mikel Merino has scored in his last two games against Chelsea, both in the Premier League in March and November 2025. Our last player to score in three in a row against the Blues was Ian Wright between 1992 and 1994 (4)
Chelsea have progressed from their last three League Cup semi-final ties but have gone on to lose the final each time. They last went out at this stage of the competition in 2017-18 against Arsenal.
Chelsea have scored more goals than any other side remaining in the League Cup this season (9), with only Brighton (12) and Cardiff (10) netting more overall.
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match officials
Simon Hooper will take charge of our Carabao Cup semi-final first leg at Stamford Bridge, with Adrian Holmes and Simon Long his assistants. Simon has taken charge of 14 of our games during his career, including our 1-0 win against Manchester United at Old Trafford in August 2025.
This is the first round in which VAR will be used in the competition this season. Jarret Gillett will be in charge at Stockley Park with Timothy Wood his assistant.
Referee: Simon Hooper
Assistant referees: Adrian Holmes and Simon Long
Fourth Official: Andrew Kitchen
VAR: Jarred Gillett
Assistant VAR: Timothy Wood
trips to the bridge
We’re currently enjoying a seven-match unbeaten run at Stamford Bridge, having last lost in west London back in August 2018, going down 3-2 thanks to a late effort from Marcos Alonso.
Since then, we’ve won three times, in May 2021, April 2022 and November 2022. Our last visit was in November 2025, ending 1-1 thanks to Mikel Merino’s second-half header.
Our last visit to Stamford Bridge in the Carabao Cup came in the semi-finals in 2018. A closely fought contest ended 0-0, with a Video Assistant Referee making its first appearance in the competition.
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Live Coverage
Tune into Arsenal.com and the official app just before kick-off to get live commentary of the game, with Dan Roebuck and Adrian Clarke talking you through all the action at Stamford Bridge.
You can also find out which broadcaster is showing the action live wherever you are in the world.
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How to watch Chelsea v Arsenal live on TV
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