City v Arsenal feels like the perfect final, says the BBC's John Murray | OneFootball

Sunday’s 2026 Carabao Cup final between City and Arsenal is shaping up to be one of the most anticipated Wembley occasions in years.

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It’s a contest that pits two genuine heavyweight contenders together, with City and Arsenal also vying for glory both in the Premier League and FA Cup.

Ahead of the game, Neil Leigh spoke to highly respected BBC 5 Live Chief Football Correspondent John Murray who will be at Wembley on commentary duty, to gauge his views about the game, the occasion and the two sides.

John thanks as always for your time. First of all, this feels like a really fitting final, doesn’t it, bringing together the two best teams in the country this season?

It really does and I do think it’s become a bit of a thing in the League Cup over the past few years.

Just having a look at the list of recent finals, usually one or both of two of the strongest teams at the time have been in there.

And obviously Manchester City dominated it so much over that period where they won it four years in a row between 2018 and 2021.

Just last year you had Newcastle v Liverpool, which was a real event, then it was Liverpool v Chelsea the year before that, Manchester United v Newcastle the season before that, Liverpool v Chelsea the year before that, and then City v Tottenham the season before that during their remarkable run in the competition.

But I think to have this final, the way that it’s fallen between these two teams is extremely good for the competition.

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And it gives us a real compelling narrative, doesn’t it?To have come at this point of the season with the two clubs being where they are and competing on so many fronts in the league, in the FA Cup and here at Wembley.

So, I think it will create a huge amount of interest both in this country and around the world and I know it’s a final everyone will want to see.

It’s also fantastic for the League Cup as a competition to have a final of this stature.

In terms of the game itself, what do you think the key elements will be in terms of both sides and what they’ll bring to the final?

I think for Arsenal, what just adds to the occasion and the pressure is the talk on the outside that this match, even though it’s a cup match albeit a cup final, is going to have a big bearing about what happens in the league.

I know that not everyone thinks that, but I think just by its nature, it is going to have some effect, whether positive or negative, on what happens next after the final.

And I think what also adds to the pressure on Arsenal is the fact that they’ve only won that one FA Cup under Mikel Arteta in what was during his first few months in charge really.

So, having not being in a final since 2020 I feel the pressure is on to actually win something and that you know what the narrative will be on Arsenal if they don’t win this final.

If they don’t win this final then, from a position obviously where they are chasing success on all fronts that reduces their options by one.

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Whereas City have been there so often in cup finals under Pep Guardiola and know what it takes to win these types of games.

They are old hands at this.

But from a City perspective there’s another side of the story there looking at the more recent past.

Because I think that one thing that jumps out to me about Manchester City looking at this final is that, as we know, throughout his career, Pep Guardiola has developed an incredible record in cup finals.

But obviously City lost out in the last two FA Cup finals during these last two seasons.

In my mind, that makes me think, is Pep really going to come out on the wrong side in three Cup finals in a row?

So, I think almost by the law of probabilities I think that will only increase his desire, if that’s possible, to actually win this cup final as well.

It’s so intriguing from both perspectives.

There are so many different elements which I think only add to the sense of occasion.

From a City perspective, John, it’s a relatively new look side this season. How impressed have you been with their progress?

First off, the great news for City is that their injury list is relatively light at the moment going into such a big game.

We do know that as a club City always recruit well.

And I do think the two signings that the club made in January in Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guéhi already look like they’re very, very shrewd signings indeed.

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Semenyo was obviously bang in form for his previous club at Bournemouth prior to joining but you’ve still got to make the step up to playing for Manchester City given the pressure and expectation.

But he’s done that so effectively, he’s scoring goals and was really helped by the fact that he was clearly a player in such great form when he joined.

In terms of Marc Guéhi, we know all about him.

He was the Crystal Palace captain whilst at Selhurst Park, and I would not be surprised if went on to captain both Manchester City and England at some stage in the near future.

He has just stepped in and in his typical way Guéhi has looked so unruffled.

Of course, though Antoine Semenyo is eligible for Sunday, Guéhi won’t be able to play in the final.

But you look at the club’s other central defenders - Ruben Dias, Abdukodir Khusanov, John Stones, Nathan Ake… City have some wonderful players in that position and that’s with Josko Gvardiol also being currently out.

So, though Guéhi will be unavailable on Sunday, you know City will be able to more than cope with that fact.

Traditionally, City always seem to come really strong, at this stage of the season and have got huge experience of Wembley finals. Could those two elements play a part in the subtext to the game?

I think so. I mean, I think it’s a classic title race at the moment.

Just look at Manchester City for example going to Elland Road at the end of last month and winning 1-0.

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I felt like I’ve seen that scenario before - the big team fighting for a league title, going away to a really difficult place, and facing such an awkward atmosphere to play in.

But just having that extra little bit of quality that led to the Antoine Semenyo goal. How often do we see that from City?

To be fair, we have seen Arsenal doing that as well. And yet we’ve also seen the occasional stumble as well between them.

But they’ve also both got the potential and ability and the players and the options.

And I do think that City always have the potential to go on a run of wins because they do have the players and that know-how of this situation.

You look at the victory at Leeds where they were also without Erling Haaland.

Yet the side still came away from a tough, tough venue with an excellent win. That’s a perfect example of the quality and the strength of Pep Guardiola’s squad.

Some people have pointed to a few parallels with 2018 when it was a new look City that beat Arsenal in that year’s Carabao Cup final which prefaced an incredible period of success. How do you view that comparison?

I think it’s a completely different scenario because there is something different about this Arsenal team this season.

Yes, they’ve had the odd defeat, but they are an incredibly difficult team to beat. They’ve lost only three matches all season across all of the competitions.

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And yes, they’ve drawn matches, but they are so difficult to beat, which adds to my thinking that this final could well go to a penalty shootout.

I do think they are stronger now than they have been at any time under Mikel Arteta but not only that I think he’s learned and I think he’s grown as well and I think that he is a better manager for being in charge for as long as he has been.

And I think that comes from his confidence and belief that he has got the best group of players that he’s worked with as the Arsenal manager here.

From an Arsenal perspective now, he just needs to take that extra step and win a few trophies, which they have the potential to do this season – but then so do City!

We know all about Manchester City, their resilience and that remarkable record under Pep Guardiola.

And of course, you also have the fact that Mikel Arteta worked with Pep at City before joining Arsenal as part of Pep’s coaching team.

So, there is that subtext there as well. It’s just deliciously poised.

It feels like a unique situation given that both teams are still going for all three domestic trophies. So do you think this game will carry wider significance in terms of its impact on the remainder of the season?

Yes, I do. And I think that could either work either positively or negatively.

For example, were Arsenal to lose in a bad way, on the surface that could provide a negative effect looking to the rest of the season.

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The inverse of that is what top sports people are so good at, isn’t it? It’s just putting setbacks behind them and just forgetting about it.

The best of the best sports people do that and they’re able to put a poor result behind them and concentrate on what comes next and forget about what’s happened in the past.

But were it to go badly for Arsenal that will be as big a mental test as they’ve had.

We are still in March as we speak now, so we are technically into the latter weeks of the season.

That means one thing is for sure. That pressure will probably continue to build and you know Manchester City are not going away.

So that’s what they’ve got to deal with.

Obviously, we know about both sides’ quality and strength in depth, but fundamentally, could mentality and psychology almost play as big a role in terms of the final and what follows?

Yes, I think so.

And as well, with that huge Premier League match in Manchester between the two sides taking place just a few weeks on from Sunday, everyone knows about that, so that’s also part of the subtext given the fight for the title.

It feels like we’ve had that game rammed down our throats and I might have been guilty of it myself!

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You can’t help but mention the fact that that league match comes so quickly afterwards and how important that will be in the mindset of the teams.

And I think whatever happens in the final, that will be a big talking point when it comes to that key weekend in the middle of April.

The build up to that league game is only going to be heightened by what happens at Wembley.

I’m not going to put you on the spot to name a winner, but how do you see the game as a contest panning out?

All along I’ve been thinking that I would be expecting this could possibly go to a penalty shootout.

You could see a tightly fought draw between the teams and it then being decided on penalties.

But there again, you know, it could be a big win either way.

It’s one of those matches where that scenario is entirely possible too because of the quality of both teams.

I think the pressure is loaded on Arsenal purely because it’s been such a long time since they’ve won a trophy.

Dealing with everything that there will be around that is a big part of what Mikel Arteta will have to do in preparing his team.

But there again they’re so good at being focused on the task in hand.

And I think with City, as I say, having lost in the FA Cup final in the last two seasons, that must be really needling Pep Guardiola.

Especially the way that City missed out in those two finals.

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I’m a big believer that when you’ve experienced setbacks like that, you want the next opportunity to quickly come along, don’t you.

That you are then even more determined to try and put that right.

And for City, this is it.

Finally, John, it feels this is one of the most significant League Cup finals for many years. Would you buy into that too?

I think so, for sure. When you’ve got the two of them going at it for the league title to meet in a cup final, which they do at this point in March, it’s quite something isn’t it?

I always look forward to cup finals, whether it’s the League Cup final or the FA Cup final.

But it does feel that this has got a higher profile than or as high a profile as any of those other finals that we’ve had in recent times.

Everybody seems to be talking about it.

I can’t wait for it, and I don’t think I will be alone in saying that!