Chelsea and Arsenal meet again with Wembley in sight as the London rivals clash in Wednesday’s EFL Cup semifinal first leg at Stamford Bridge, both arriving off confidence-boosting FA Cup wins and with plenty of baggage behind them.
Chelsea’s route here has been anything but smooth.
Their 3-1 quarterfinal win at Cardiff turned out to be Enzo Maresca’s last victory in charge, coming shortly before a damaging breakdown in relations with the board.
Yet the Blues kept moving forward in the competition, having earlier edged past Lincoln City and Wolverhampton Wanderers, and now play their first home League Cup tie of the 2025-26 campaign under Liam Rosenior.
History offers Chelsea encouragement. They have won four of their last five EFL Cup semifinal ties, with the lone blemish coming against Arsenal in 2017-18.
Rosenior, meanwhile, takes his first crack at top-flight opposition as Chelsea boss after a morale-lifting 5-1 FA Cup demolition of Charlton Athletic ended a five-match winless run.
Chaos, however, still defines Chelsea’s winter.
They have both scored and conceded in seven straight matches across all competitions and have found the net in each of their last 12 games at Stamford Bridge, entertaining, if rarely convincing.
Arsenal know this stage all too well, and painfully so.
The Gunners are potentially 270 minutes from a long-awaited League Cup crown, but recent history bites: semifinal exits to Liverpool in 2021-22 and Newcastle United last season still linger.
Their quarterfinal passage was tense, needing penalties to see off Crystal Palace after a drab draw, saved by Kepa Arrizabalaga, whose spot-kick heroics completed a curious full circle after his infamous Chelsea penalty saga years earlier.
Arteta’s side arrive in form.
Sunday’s 4-1 FA Cup comeback win at Portsmouth, sparked by Gabriel Martinelli’s first Arsenal hat trick, made it eight victories from their last nine matches in all competitions.
Away from home, they are relentless, scoring in 13 consecutive road games, including a 1-1 Premier League draw at Chelsea in November.
That stalemate extended Arsenal’s unbeaten run against the Blues to eight matches, and Chelsea have not beaten them at Stamford Bridge since August 2018.
Team news tilts the balance slightly. Chelsea will be without Moises Caicedo, suspended after collecting his second yellow card of the competition, while Mykhaylo Mudryk (doping suspension), Romeo Lavia (thigh) and Levi Colwill (knee) also remain out.
Marc Cucurella returns from suspension, and Rosenior is expected to restore key names such as Reece James, Malo Gusto and Cole Palmer after their precautionary weekend absences.
Arsenal welcomed back former Blue Kai Havertz from a knee injury on Sunday, though Viktor Gyokeres is still expected to lead the line despite recent struggles.
Defensive options remain uncertain, with Piero Hincapie, Riccardo Calafiori and Cristhian Mosquera all doubts.
Arteta is likely to stick with Kepa in goal for the cups, backing the Spaniard’s experience despite a shaky moment at the weekend.
