Alvaro
Morata and Cesc Fabregas will be missing for Chelsea when they travel to
Arsenal in the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg, with the tie level at 0-0.
Chelsea go into the vital clash having beaten Brighton 4-0 at the Amex
Stadium on Saturday, while Arsenal are coming off the back of a 4-1 victory
over Crystal Palace after a disappointing few weeks for both sides.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is predicting a tight game at the Emirates,
after a stuffy affair at Stamford Bridge a fortnight ago.
Wenger said: "It's an important game and we want to go to the final. We have
an opportunity to do it at home against Chelsea. I think the two teams know
each other very well.
"The first leg was very blocked, the second leg will certainly be more open,
because at some stage, the teams will have to open up to try to win the
game. It should be much more spectacular than the first one."
Team news
Striker Morata will be missing for Chelsea with a back injury, while
Fabregas has a hamstring problem.
Andreas Christensen is available to play after his head injury, while
captain Gary Cahill, midfielder Danny Drinkwater and Thibaut Courtois are
set to be fit for the second leg.
New signing Henrikh Mkhitaryan is cup-tied for Arsenal after appearing in
the quarter-finals for his former club Manchester United against Bristol
City.
Aaron Ramsey (illness) and Nacho Monreal (leg) will be given every chance to
be involved but Olivier Giroud (hamstring) and Danny Welbeck (groin) will
definitely miss out for Wenger's side.
Opta stats
This will be the fifth meeting in all competitions between the two sides
this season - the third time they've met five times in a single campaign and
first since 2003-04 (also 1946-47).
Indeed, the last time two top-flight clubs drew five games against each
other in a single season was Arsenal versus Liverpool back in 1979-80. In
fact, the only other occasion that this happened involved Chelsea (versus
Burnley in 1955-56).
After failing to reach the final in five of their first six League Cup
semi-finals in which they failed to win the first leg, the Gunners have
progressed from two of the last three (2006-07 vs Spurs & 2010-11 vs
Ipswich).
Chelsea have lost just once in their last eight away games versus Arsenal in
all competitions (W3 D4 L1).
Arsenal and Chelsea have both made the League Cup final on seven previous
occasions - only four teams have reached the final more times (Liverpool 12,
Man Utd 9, Aston Villa 8, Spurs 8).
Arsene Wenger has reached the League Cup final twice as Arsenal manager
(2007 and 2011), but it remains the only domestic trophy he's not won with
the Gunners.
Charlie's prediction
Well let's be fair to Arsenal, with a so-called weakened team at the
weekend, they played really well, especially in that opening 25-minute
spell, with Mesut Ozil controlling the game.
Also with key players missing, Chelsea were brilliant at the start and then
end of their win over Brighton, with Eden Hazard producing some magical
moments.
The big question is whether Arsenal can defend. They've done it in the two
meetings at Stamford Bridge this season, where they looked to suffocate
Chelsea, but at the Emirates it was very different, when they conceded twice
and Alvaro Morata should have had a hat full.
How do you keep Hazard quiet? I don't think you can really try to at home
without having a negative mentality, and I think Arsene Wenger will go with
a similar side to Saturday with Mohamed Elneny, Granit Xhaka and Jack
Wilshere giving us a bit more control of the midfield.
I'm really looking forward to sitting back and watching this game, just like
I was with Liverpool v Manchester City, and I think it will be an exciting
encounter, but I fear Hazard will hand out the decisive punishment.
Charlie predicts: 2-3 and Hazard to score first - 85/1 with Sky Bet
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