Man City's ambition
For the first time in history, the top two teams of the English Premier League will compete in the League Cup (League Cup) final, and Guardiola hopes to inflict a strong psychological blow when he tries to chase Arsenal on the path to conquering the Premier League peak. After the League Cup final, the two sides will also meet in the Premier League.
Man City has defeated Huddersfield Town, Swansea City, Brentford and Newcastle United by a two-goal margin in all matches, aiming for their ninth championship in this tournament, and their fifth championship under Guardiola's leadership, which will help him become the coach with the most titles in the League Cup.
However, after being eliminated from the Champions League midweek with a 1-5 defeat to Real Madrid, Guardiola's team entered the final with a decline in form when they only won one of their last five matches. They also lost two of their most recent major finals, the Manchester derby in the FA Cup 2024, and the last season's final when Ebere Eze scored the decisive goal for Crystal Palace.
Force information
On Arsenal's side, Mikel Arteta will continue to assess the condition of captain Martin Odegaard before the final, who has been absent in the last six matches due to a knee injury, while Jurrien Timber had to leave the field early in the midweek match against Bayer Leverkusen due to an ankle injury.
In addition to this duo, Arteta will also consider who to start in goal. In previous matches in this arena, goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga played all.
Meanwhile, Guardiola has confirmed that goalkeeper James Trafford will start at Wembley, after playing in all previous matches.
Marc Guehi is not eligible to play in the FA Cup because he used to wear the Crystal Palace shirt against Arsenal in the quarter-finals before moving to Man City in January 2026, while Josko Gvardiol broke his leg and had to be sidelined for a long time.
Statistics
Man City has won 8 of their 9 League Cup finals, only Liverpool has won more championships (10). Citizens (Man City's nickname) have won in the last 7 finals, since the defeat to Wolves in 1974.
Arsenal have had eight different goalscorers in this season's League Cup (excluding own goals), no Arsenal player has scored more than 1 goal. The last time Arsenal had more different goalscorers in a League Cup season was in the 1987-1988 season (9 people).
Man City defeated Arsenal in the League Cup final in 2018. Only two teams have ever beaten the Gunners in two close cup competition finals: Newcastle United (FA Cup 1932, FA Cup 1952) and Leeds United (League Cup 1968, FA Cup 1972).
Erling Haaland has scored in all three recent matches against Arsenal in all competitions. However, this striker has never scored in six appearances for Man City at Wembley Stadium.
Rayan Cherki has participated in 4 goals in 4 appearances in the League Cup for Man City (3 goals, 1 assist), on average participating in a goal every 47 minutes in this tournament.
Eberechi Eze could become the third player to score against opponents in both the League Cup and FA Cup finals after Roberto Di Matteo (against Middlesbrough) and Didier Drogba (against Liverpool). This midfielder has scored 2 goals and had 1 assist in the last 3 matches against Man City.
Since joining Man City in 2019, midfielder Rodri has only lost one of 14 encounters with Arsenal, which was the FA Cup semi-final in the 2019-2020 season. The last four times he faced Arsenal, the matches all ended in a draw.
The League Cup final between Arsenal and Man City will take place at 11:30 p.m. on March 22.
