Kepa insists Arsenal will be ready to face his former club Chelsea | OneFootball

Kepa Arrizabalaga says the League Cup semi-finals against his former club Chelsea will be tough matches, but he insists Arsenal will be ready.

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Arsenal goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga got his moment in the spotlight on Tuesday night, saving a Crystal Palace penalty to send the Gunners through to the next round of the League Cup.

In doing so, Kepa set up a fixture against his old club Chelsea, having left the west London club to join Arsenal for £5m in the summer transfer window.

It won’t be the first time Kepa has been part of the squad against his old team, having made the bench for the Premier League clash in November. But he was an unused substitute on that occasion, and this time around he’s likely to start both legs.

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Speaking after the Crystal Palace win, Kepa looked ahead to those matches against Chelsea.

“Right now, if you want a trophy, [and] that’s something that we want, we have to fight against good teams,” Kepa said.

“I think both semi-finals are big games, it’s going to be tough but we will prepare well the game. We will be ready, and we’ll go for it!”

Photo via Arsenal.com

Kepa has made a solid start to life at Arsenal in his limited appearances, keeping clean sheets against Port Vale and Brighton before his penalty-save heroics against Crystal Palace.

The goalkeeper will likely have a warm-up game before the Chelsea tie kicks off on January 14th, with Arsenal due to face Portsmouth in the FA Cup the previous weekend on January 11th.

Assuming Kepa continues to take all the cup matches whilst David Raya has the Premier League and Champions League games, the former Chelsea goalkeeper will be the one between the posts for those two cup fixtures in the space of four days.

The second leg of the League Cup semi-final will then take place on February 3rd at the Emirates Stadium.