Carabao Cup Final: Arsenal vs. Manchester City | OneFootball

The top two teams in England will battle it out for the first major honor of the season, as Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal take on Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final.

Little more than a fortnight ago, both teams were primed to attack an unprecedented quadruple. But things can, and often do, change fast in the beautiful game. Now, whilst Arsenal have gone from strength to strength, City find themselves with their season on the verge of going up in smoke. 

Within an eight-day span, the Blues lost twice to Real Madrid, sealing a 5-1 aggregate defeat, and dropped points against relegation-battling West Ham. This has seen them exit the Champions League in disappointing fashion and fall further adrift of Arsenal in the Premier League title race, with the Gunners now nine points clear at the top of the table. Dreams of a spectacular season at the Etihad are evaporating fast.

With Arsenal’s advantage in the league approaching the point of being insurmountable, Guardiola must turn to the domestic cups or risk a second consecutive season without silverware. City’s trophy hopes could vanish over the span of two games. There’s Sunday’s League Cup final agains the likely champions-elect, then they host the reigning English champions, Liverpool, next in the round of the FA Cup.

Master vs. Apprentice

Meanwhile, for Arsenal and Arteta this is the moment they have been waiting for – the chance to step out of the shadow. The Spaniard led his side to FA Cup glory little more than six months after taking charge at the Emirates, however he has been unable to claim any more trophies since then.

This will be just Arteta’s second final as a manager. It will be Guardiola’s 11th with City, and the 30th of his illustrious managerial career. In another twist of fate, this fixture will be a rematch of his first final since he made the switch to Manchester almost a decade ago. 

City defeated Arsenal 3-0 in the 2018 League Cup final, securing Guardiola’s first piece of silverware in English football. Arteta sat by his side as his assistant that day. This weekend the two will be in opposing dugouts as the apprentice takes on the master.

Psychological Damage Potential

In a sight that is seldom seen, the two best teams in the country will do battle at Wembley on Sunday. The top two teams have never met in a League Cup final during the Premier League era. The last time it happened? An FA Cup final when Chelsea defeated Manchester United back in 2007.

Given the timing the match, many have speculated that it could have a significant psychological impact on the end of the season. Should Arteta’s side finally get across the line and land major silverware, it would surely inject them with fresh belief going into the final months.

Conversely, should they fail, ghosts from the past could reappear. The current Arsenal squad has often, sometimes perhaps unfairly, been subject to criticism for a weak mentality that has seen them regularly come up short and fail to land the big prizes.

If that were to happen, then all of a sudden their lead in the Premier League would not seem so substantial. Six of the nine points could quickly be swallowed up, if City win their game in hand and then beat the Gunners when they visit the Etihad in April.

The League Cup is a major honour in its own merit, however it certainly feels that the teams will be playing for more than just that trophy on Sunday.