Overview
Liam Rosenior will face the first major challenge as Chelsea coach when The Blues welcome Arsenal in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-finals at Stamford Bridge.
Rosenior made his debut smoothly last weekend, after leaving Strasbourg to dock in London. He and his students won 5-1 against Charlton Athletic in the third round of the FA Cup.
However, that big score was only really decided thanks to 2 late goals in injury time in the second half by Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez. That was the first match of the English coach since taking over the hot seat from Enzo Maresca.
In the away match at The Valley, Rosenior made up to 8 changes in the squad. Tosin Adarabioyo, Moises Caicedo and Andrey Santos are three rare names retained after the unforgettable 1-2 defeat to Fulham in the Premier League under interim coach Calum McFarlane.
Entering the match against Arsenal, Rosenior is likely to field a squad that he considers optimal, especially when the opponent possesses superior quality. Alejandro Garnacho is expecting the performance against Charlton to be enough to help him win a starting spot.
The Argentine international has contributed to 8 goals in his last 5 appearances at the Carabao Cup (5 goals, 3 assists), and also scored a double when coming on as a substitute in the 3-1 victory over Cardiff City in the quarter-finals.
Chelsea also had good results in the Carabao Cup semi-finals when they passed this round in the last three times. However, they all succumbed in the final. Notably, the team that last eliminated Chelsea in the semi-finals was Arsenal in the 2017-2018 season.
On the other side, Arsenal last season stopped right in the semi-finals when they were defeated by Newcastle United - the champion afterwards - with a total score of 4-0.
If they continue to be eliminated by Chelsea, Arsenal will receive a record shock - the 10th time being eliminated in the Carabao Cup semi-finals, more than any other club. Currently, the "Gunners" are with Tottenham having 9 stops in this round. They are also at risk of becoming the first team to be eliminated in the semi-finals for two consecutive seasons since Manchester United in the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 periods.
Similar to Chelsea, Arsenal also had a fairly easy victory in the FA Cup. The Gunners defeated Portsmouth 4-1 despite conceding a goal in the third minute.
Gabriel Martinelli is one of the 10 changes that Mikel Arteta made, and he scored a hat-trick after receiving criticism for pushing Conor Bradley in the 0-0 draw with Liverpool.
The Premier League team also welcomed good news when Kai Havertz returned after 5 months of absence. This striker hopes to be given more playing time, after only 20 minutes on the bench at Fratton Park.
In defense, Riccardo Calafiori and Piero Hincapie are likely not yet recovered. Calafiori was out last month due to muscle injury, while Hincapie had a groin problem in the draw with Liverpool.
On Chelsea's side, Caicedo will be absent due to suspension after receiving his second yellow card in the match against Cardiff. Marc Cucurella has returned after a penalty, but Cole Palmer, Reece James and Malo Gusto still leave their chances of playing after being rested at the weekend.
Head-to-head record
This is the third time Chelsea and Arsenal have faced each other in the Carabao Cup semi-finals, thus becoming the fourth-largest match in this phase of the tournament. Previously, Arsenal met Tottenham, Chelsea met Tottenham and Man City met Man United, all of which took place four times in the semi-finals.
Chelsea once made a spectacular comeback after losing to Arsenal 1-2 in the first leg to win a ticket to the final in the 1997-1998 season with a total score of 4-3, before entering the championship. In the 2017-2018 season, Arsenal went on again - winning 2-1 in the second leg to enter Wembley, but then succumbed to Man City in the final.
In total, the two teams have met six times in the Carabao Cup. Chelsea is the winning/going team in four of the six encounters, except for the first encounter (round 4 of the 1976-1977 season) and the most recent encounter (semi-finals of the 2017-2018 season).
Score prediction: Chelsea 0-1 Arsenal
The match between Chelsea and Arsenal takes place at 3:00 AM on January 15 (Vietnam time).
