🕟 Kick Off: 20:00 GMT

🏟️ Venue: Emirates Stadium

📺 UK Broadcaster: ITV

🙎🏻‍♂️ Referee: Peter Bankes

📹 VAR: James Bell

🔴 Arsenal Team News:

• Mikel Merino: Broken Foot; The midfielder is set to undergo surgery after suffering a serious bone injury against Manchester United. He is expected to miss a “considerable period,” with some reports suggesting he may struggle to return before the season ends.
• Bukayo Saka: Muscle Niggle; A concern for tomorrow. He was withdrawn during the warm-up against Leeds United on Saturday. He is currently being assessed and remains a doubt for the Chelsea clash.
• Max Dowman: Ankle Ligament; The 16-year-old remains sidelined but is progressing toward a return in mid-February 2026.

⚽ Arsenal Form: 🟩🟩🟥🟩🟧

🔵 Chelsea Team News:

• Jamie Gittens: Foot/Muscle Injury; Limped off during the first half of the win against West Ham on Saturday. Liam Rosenior has labeled him a major doubt for tomorrow.
• Tosin Adarabioyo: Thigh Injury; Ruled out for the second leg. He is progressing well in individual training, with a targeted return for the FA Cup tie on February 13.
• Romeo Lavia: Thigh Injury; Nearing a return but not yet ready for match action. Expected back in mid-February.
• Dario Essugo: Muscle Injury; Suffered a setback in training. He is expected to be out until March 2026.
• Levi Colwill: ACL; Continuing his long-term recovery following pre-season surgery. He is hoping for a return in late April or May.

⚽ Chelsea Form: 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

⚔️ Head-to-Head:

• Chelsea 2-3 Arsenal (Jan 14, 2026, EFL Cup)
• Chelsea 1-1 Arsenal (Nov 30, 2025, Premier League)
• Arsenal 1-0 Chelsea (Mar 16, 2025, Premier League)
• Chelsea 1-1 Arsenal (Nov 10, 2024, Premier League)
• Arsenal 5-0 Chelsea (Apr 23, 2024, Premier League)

📖 Match Facts:

• Away goals do not count in the EFL Cup, so the 3 goals scored by Arsenal at Stamford Bridge will not factor in to a tie breaker. In the event of an aggregated draw, the game will go straight to penalties.
• Chelsea have not won a game at the Emirates since 2021.
• A win for Arsenal would see them appear in their first cup final since 2020, and their first EFL Cup final since the 17/18, which was against City.

✍🏼 Pre-Match Ramblings

Arsenal look to make their first appearance in an EFL Cup final since 2018, a game against Man City which we lost 3-0. It’s looking likely that we would face City in a potential final, with City 2-0 up against Newcastle heading into the Second Leg. We haven’t appeared in a cup final for almost 6 years, and this is a draught we certainly have to rectify.

Chelsea are unbeaten in 5 games since we beat them in the first leg at Stamford Bridge, so they come into this with not only strong form, but the feeling that they can overcome the defecit and make it to Wembley. At the weekend they came back from a 0-2 scoreline to win 3-2 against a struggling West Ham side. Yes they completed the comeback, but perhaps they shouldn’t have been in the situation in the first place.

Arteta tried something new with Arsenal against Leeds at the weekend with Odegaard making way for Havertz to start in midfield, but it certainly wasn’t a like-for-like change. Havertz played the role very differently to our captain, and seems to have a budding partnership forming on the pitch with Gyokeres. A tough home game against Sunderland looms after this match, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see some rotation. Perhaps Eze will get a start on the left or in midfield? It’s hard to predict what Mikel will do with his lineups.

Arsenal looked comfortable for most of the first leg fixture, with Chelsea’s goals coming from a subsitute appearance from Garnacho. The scoreline certainly doesn’t reflect the full picture of that first leg, let’s hope that we won’t regret our lack of killer instinct demonstrated at Stamford Bridge.