The first leg of this semi-final clash ended in a goalless draw a fortnight ago, a result which would have pleased Arsene Wenger more than Antonio Conte. Arsenal were dogged and resilient at Stamford Bridge – just like they were when facing the same opponents away from home in the Premier League earlier this season – but were unable to find a goal to take an aggregate lead into this week’s encounter. A 4-1 thumping of Crystal Palace at the weekend lifted optimism in the red and white half of north London, though, bringing to an end a five-game winless run and proving that the imminent exit of Alexis Sanchez will not necessarily prevent the Gunners from challenging for silverware in the coming months. Wenger, who has never won the League Cup in his time in charge of Arsenal, is also looking to acquire Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the January transfer window, although neither player has joined the club at the time of writing.
Chelsea were also victorious by a convincing margin on Saturday, thrashing Brighton and Hove Albion 4-0 to end their own five-match stretch without a victory in all competitions. It was a fantastic performance from Conte’s charges after a difficult spell in which they were not only struggling to win, but also having difficulty finding the back of the net; the Blues will hope their goalscoring woes are now over after that emphatic success on the south coast, but facing Arsenal will be a different proposition altogether. Chelsea have also been linked with new additions in the transfer market – the links with Andy Carroll, Peter Crouch and Ashley Barnes appear pretty baffling from the outside, but Conte is clearly keen to add more bodies to the ranks before the end of the month, particularly with a Champions League round of 16 tie against Barcelona on the horizon.
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Arsenal will have to make do without Nacho Monreal (hamstring), Danny Welbeck (muscular), Olivier Giroud (hamstring) and long-term absentee Santi Cazorla, but Aaron Ramsey should be available again following illness. Wenger may be tempted to stick as closely as possible to the side which began the triumph over Palace, with Alexandre Lacazette supported by Mesut Ozil, Alex Iwobi and Jack Wilshere.
Chelsea, meanwhile, will be unable to call upon the services of Andreas Christensen (head), Gary Cahill (hamstring) and Cesc Fabregas (hamstring), but Thibaut Courtois (ankle) and Danny Drinkwater (ankle) could return to the visitors’ line-up here. After his side’s much-improved display against Brighton at the Amex Stadium, it would be a shock if Conte reverted back to a 3-5-1-1 formation instead of the 3-4-2-1 which served the Premier League champions so well last time out.
Much like the first leg of the semi-final and the two league matches between these teams, this will probably be another tight encounter at the Emirates Stadium. Chelsea’s threat in transition could swing the balance in their favour, but it would not be at all surprising if this last-four tie went all the way to extra time and penalties.
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