Four changes for Carabao Cup final as Trafford starts

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Manchester City F.C.

·22 March 2026

Four changes for Carabao Cup final as Trafford starts

Pep Guardiola has made four changes to his City side for this afternoon's Carabao Cup final with Arsenal.

Men's Team

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James Trafford, who has played throughout the run to the final, is in goal in place of Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Nathan Ake will be in central defence, with Nico O’Reilly at left-back.

They replace Ruben Dias, who is injured, and Rayan Ait-Nouri.

Pep’s Wembley way

Antoine Semenyo takes the place of Tijjani Reijnders further forward.

City are seeking a ninth League Cup trophy in our history, with only Liverpool on 10 ever winning it more than us.

We’ve lost just one of our nine League Cup finals, with that defeat coming against Wolves in 1974.

Teams

CITY XI: Trafford, Nunes, Khusanov, Ake, O’Reilly, Rodrigo, Bernardo (C), Semenyo, Cherki, Doku, Haaland

Subs: Donnarumma, Reijnders, Stones, Marmoush, Kovacic, Nico, Ait-Nouri, Savinho, Foden

ARSENAL XI: Arrizabalaga, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Hincapie, Rice, Zubimendi, Havertz, Saka, Gyokeres, Trossard

Subs: Raya, Mosquera, Jesus, Martinelli, Norgaard, Madueke, Calafiori, Lewis-Skelly, Dowman

Men's Team

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Tactics

James Trafford’s goal will be protected by a back four of Matheus Nunes, Abdukodir Khusanov, Nathan Ake and Nico O’Reilly.

Rodri and Bernardo will be in the heart of midfield, with Antoine Semenyo, Rayan Cherki, Jeremy Doku ahead of them in support of Erling Haaland.

Men's Team

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Pep’s League Cup love

Victory today would be a fifth League Cup winner’s medal for our boss.

Pep Guardiola is currently tied with fellow iconic names in English football management; Brian Clough, Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger on four each.

This trophy was his first in charge of City, coming via a 3-0 win over today’s opponents in 2018.

That was the first of four triumphs in a row, ending in 2021.

Now, Pep and City have the chance to reaffirm our love of this competition.

Men's Team

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Match stats

Arsenal are looking to win the League Cup for the third time, after 1987 and 1993. However, the Gunners have lost more finals than any other side (6), most recently in 2018 against Manchester City.
We have won eight of our nine League Cup finals, with only Liverpool winning the competition more often (10). We have triumphed in each of our last seven finals, since a loss to Wolves in 1974.
With current Premier League leaders Arsenal taking on second placed Manchester City, this is the first League Cup final in history played between the top two teams in the country.
Arsenal have lost just one of their five meetings with Manchester City at Wembley Stadium (W3 D1), though that was in the 2018 League Cup final (0-3).
Manchester City beat Arsenal in the 2018 League Cup final. Only two teams have beaten the Gunners in two major cup finals before – Newcastle United (1932 FA Cup, 1952 FA Cup) and Leeds United (1968 League Cup, 1972 FA Cup).
Manchester City have won their last four League Cup meetings with Arsenal by an aggregate score of 11-1. Their last defeat to the Gunners came in the third round in 2004-05 (1-2).
This will be the second League Cup final to take place between two non-British managers of the same nationality (Spaniards Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta). Previously, Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool beat fellow German Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea on penalties in 2022.
Arsenal have had eight different goalscorers in the League Cup this season (excluding own goals), with no Gunners player netting more than once. They last had more different scorers in a single campaign in 1987-88 (9), when they lost the final to Luton Town.

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Four changes for Carabao Cup final as Trafford starts | OneFootball

Four changes for Carabao Cup final as Trafford starts

OneFootball Videos

Teams

Tactics

Pep’s League Cup love

Match stats

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