Last League Cup final between Arsenal and Man City shows how much both sides have changed | OneFootball

League leaders Arsenal take on title challengers Manchester City in the League Cup final this weekend in a game that shows how much has changed since the last final between these two.

The two sides faced off in the 2017/18 final in what was Arsène Wenger's final season in charge of the Gunners. Meanwhile Pep Guardiola was in his second season at City where he really made things click for the Citizens, winning 100 points on the way to an easy Premier League title.

Arsenal finished sixth that season on 63 points that year, a tally they already topped this season a few weeks ago when they defeated Chelsea 2-1 at home.

None of the players who appeared for the Gunners in the 2017/18 campaign are still at the club except for Reiss Nelson, who has spent this year on loan at Brentford.

On the other side, Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva both came on from the bench for Man City that day while John Stones was an unused substitute.

One man who was also a substitute was of course Gabriel Jesus who, should he feature, has a chance to score against his former team for the first time having previously faced City for Arsenal on four occasions, winning once, losing once, and drawing twice.

Arsenal underwent a big change the following summer after defeat in the League Cup final. Wenger's departure saw the appointment of Unai Emery, who was clearly not the right fit for the job despite his success prior and after.

Freddie Ljungberg's interim appointment paved the way for Mikel Arteta, Guardiola's assistant in that 2018 League Cup final, to take over.

Slowly, the former midfielder has totally changed how Arsenal play and brought in set-piece innovations that have helped them challenge for the title. This time, it even seems highly likely they will go on to win it while Guardiola's time at City could well be coming to an end.

Should Arsenal win this weekend it really would feel like the momentum has switched from Manchester to London.