Arsenal face Manchester City in the Carabao Cup Final at Wembley. The Gunners are still in the running for a quadruple, City for a domestic treble. It’s impossible not to connect today’s result to the Premier League run-in. But today’s match also stands alone. Silverware is on the line and trophies mean something, to the clubs, to the players, and the fans.
Much of the talk ahead of the match has focused on Arsenal, perhaps understandably so. Despite being one of the best teams in Europe for three
or four seasons, the Gunners have just the 2020 FA Cup to show for it. That was the mid-summer, COVID-affected FA Cup Final too, played in front of an empty stadium. The Arsenal supporters haven’t seen a trophy in-person since the 2017 FA Cup. The club haven’t won the League Cup (today’s competition) since 1993.
In the context of this season, however, this match might be more important for Manchester City. They’re 9 points adrift (with a game in hand and that all-important head-to-head) in the Premier League. They were just unceremoniously bounced 5-1 on aggregate from the Champions League by Real Madrid. It feels as if the season might be slipping away from Pep Guardiola’s side. A win over Arsenal would be a strong statement from City that they’re going to fight to the last.
Martin Ødegaard and Jurrien Timber may be available for Arsenal, although they’re highly unlikely to start. Of the pair, Timber is likelier to feature — he hasn’t missed nearly as much time as the skipper nor was his injury as significant. Ødegaard has been out for a while and was out for a longer while before picking up his most recent injury. He wasn’t called into the Norway side for the upcoming international break either, which suggests he might not be fit to play at all. Mikel Merino is likely out for the season.
On the Manchester City side of things, Josko Gvardiol is the only injury of note. The defender fractured his leg against Chelsea in January and might not be back this season. Erling Haaland was substituted at halftime against Real Madrid midweek even though City still had an outside chance of recovering the tie. Pep Guardiola confirmed the striker was available and ready in his pre-match press conference.
Marc Guehi is cup-tied and unavailable for Manchester City, no matter how much Guardiola complains about it.
Lineups will be posted when available.
WHO: Arsenal vs Manchester City
WHAT: Carabao Cup Final
WHERE: Wembley Stadium
WHEN: Sunday, March 22nd, 9:30 am ET | 12:30 pm ET | 4:30 pm GMT
HOW TO WATCH: Streaming on Paramount+
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