The first of two legs in this Carabao Cup semi-final is at Stamford Bridge, where the Blues have never lost to the Gunners in this floodlit format.

Although the pair have previously met 212 times on all fronts, this is only the seventh League Cup tie, Chelsea winning four of the previous six.

This is the 63rd time the west Londoners have reached the semi-finals of a major competition, and 17th in the League Cup, of which we were London’s first and most recent winners.

This is the second of four successive away games in four competitions over 10 days for Mikel Arteta’s league leaders.

Last weekend both Premier League big-hitters saw off struggling Championship hosts to make the last 32 of the FA Cup. On Sunday ex-Chelsea winger Noni Madueke could afford to miss a penalty as Arsenal won 4-1 at 21st-placed Portsmouth.

A day earlier, with new head coach Liam Rosenior in charge for the first time, a rotated Chelsea with plenty of intensity, tempo and creativity beat Charlton Athletic 5-1 – the Blues’ heftiest away win in that competition for 10 years.

On his first appearance in the Bridge dugout, Rosenior will aim to maximise home advantage before the conclusion at the Emirates Stadium, hopefully with more of the cup-tie heroics that resound down the decades from our epic cup meetings in 1998 and 2004.

Route to the semi-finals

Lincoln City 1-2 Chelsea
Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-4 Chelsea
Cardiff City 1-3 Chelsea

Burnley 1-2 Arsenal
Wrexham 1-2 Arsenal
Arsenal 1-1 (8-7 pens) Crystal Palace

Team news

Chelsea will be without the suspended Moises Caicedo for this match. While Rosenior confirmed there are no fresh injury concerns in his squad following the weekend's FA Cup win, he is waiting to make a late call on the involvement of Malo Gusto, Reece James and Cole Palmer.

'Obviously, Moi is suspended – and he was marvellous in the last game – but we've had no injury problems coming out from Charlton, which is a really, really good thing,' Rosenior said in his press conference on Monday.

'I'll make a decision on Cole, Reece and Malo tomorrow, I'm giving them some extra time. They're being managed and it was a good time for them to rest in the FA Cup game.

'I believe in this group, and there is no reason to take risks on players' health if you believe that we can win the game. It means they can come through and get extra training sessions and extra bits of work, and that's the way it's worked out so far.'

The history

Chelsea have contested 16 League Cup semi-finals, beginning in 1965 when Aston Villa were beaten 3-2 in Birmingham and held 1-1 at Stamford Bridge. Tommy Docherty’s Blues became London’s first winners of the competition by overcoming Leicester City in the two-legged final.

The opponents were closer to home in 1971/72, Tottenham Hotspur falling victims to Peter Osgood and Co at the Bridge 3-2, before a 2-2 at White Hart Lane. Sadly, the loss to Stoke in the final signalled the end of an era.

The next three appearances at this stage brought losses home and away – Norwich in 1973, Sunderland in 1985 and Sheffield Wednesday in 1991.

More poignantly for tonight’s context, Arsenal were the next last-four visitors to Fulham Road, in 1998. The north Londoners had won their home leg 2-1, but newly installed player-manager Gianluca Vialli toasted his players with pre-match champagne and they blew the Gunners away 3-1, going on to beat Middlesbrough in the final.

2002 was something of a reverse, as Claudio Ranieri’s side beat Tottenham 2-1 at the Bridge, but were reduced to 10 players and soundly beaten 5-1 at White Hart Lane. In 2005, Manchester United held the Londoners 0-0 in the first leg, but Jose Mourinho’s side rolled them over 2-1 at Old Trafford and came from behind to defeat Liverpool 3-2 and claim the crown.

Two years later, in our double domestic cup 2006/07 season, Wycombe Wanderers earned a home draw, but were thrashed 4-0 in London. Didier Drogba served up a brace to see off Arsenal 2-1 in the final. The following season, a return to the final was secured with home and away wins against Everton, but the shock loss to Spurs hurt.

The 2013 last-four clash with Swansea City started with a poor 2-0 loss at home, and a 0-0 followed in which Eden Hazard was sent off after a ball-boy refused to return the tool of his trade in good time. Two seasons later, Chelsea edged Liverpool (1-1 away, 1-0 at home) before gaining 2-0 revenge over Tottenham at Wembley – our most recent success in the competition.

The last-four tie in 2018 against Arsenal was quite a flat affair (0-0 at home, 2-1 loss away), but a year later shootout success after an aggregate 2-2 draw meant we progressed past Mauricio Pochettino’s Spurs. After a tight final, the penalty kicks went Manchester City’s way.

Again it was Tottenham who stood in our way in 2022, though this time they were beaten home and away. We went on to lose another penalty shootout at Wembley, this time to Liverpool. Finally, in 2024, we lost 1-0 at Middlesbrough, but roared to Wembley with a 6-1 response in London. Yet again, though, we were edged out on penalties by Liverpool in the final.

Know this...

Chelsea have progressed to the League Cup final from 10 of our past 16 semi-finals, including each of the past three.

This is the 99th time Chelsea have hosted Arsenal at Stamford Bridge across all competitions.

Chelsea are one of only four clubs to have avoided defeat by the Gunners in all competitions this season - along with Liverpool, Manchester City and Sunderland.

The Blues have won the League Cup five times, the Gunners twice.

In the previous round, the Blues won at Cardiff, host city of our famous 2-1 victory over Arsenal in the 2007 final of this competition.

On Saturday at Charlton, Rosenior became the first Chelsea coach since Antonio Conte in 2016 to win his first match in charge. The 5-1 FA Cup victory is also the biggest by a Blues boss in their opening match, superseding Luiz Felipe Scolari’s 4-0 maiden voyage in 2008.

The Blues mustered 30 shots in south-east London, the most by the team in any game this season.

The Addicks win also featured our 800th FA Cup goal, scored by Enzo Fernandez from the penalty spot.