Arsenal vs Liverpool: Carabao Cup Preview, H2H & Predicted Line-ups

Arsenal and Liverpool go head-to-head in the return leg of their mouth-watering Carabao Cup semi-final tie at the Emirates Stadium.

Despite going down to 10 men only 24 minutes into their first-leg encounter at Anfield last week, the Gunners bagged a goalless draw against an understrength Reds side. 

With the tie well poised going into the deciding leg, there is everything to play for in the nation’s capital on Thursday.

Arsenal’s all-London Premier League clash against Tottenham was postponed over the weekend, handing Mikel Arteta’s side extra rest days.

Coming into this fixture, the Spaniard has responded to Spurs’ criticism of Arsenal for forcing the postponement of Sunday’s north London derby.

“We didn’t have the players necessary to have a squad available to compete in a Premier League match,” he told Sky Sports. “That is 100 per cent guaranteed.

“I don’t know if I understand. I’m telling you what we’ve done. If a team has come to us and said, ‘we cannot play and here are the reasons we cannot play’, and the game has been postponed, we have never publicly questioned any of that, and we will not.”

Meanwhile, Liverpool swept Premier League newcomers Brentford aside with an overwhelming 3-0 home victory at the weekend to set themselves up nicely for this showdown.

However, with Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane still away at the Africa Cup of Nations, the Reds will face an uphill task of penetrating Arsenal’s backline. 

Arsenal vs Liverpool Head-to-Head

An uneventful Carabao Cup first-leg draw in Merseyside means Arsenal have now failed to score in four consecutive matches against Liverpool in all competitions. 

That was the case in their embarrassing 4-0 Premier League defeat at Anfield in the first half of the season. 

The Gunners have only won one of their last six competitive H2Hs on home turf (D3, L2), conceding 3+ goals in 50% of those fixtures. 

The Reds have scored more goals versus Arsenal (43) under Jurgen Klopp than against any other opponent in all competitions. 

But the Londoners can take confidence from going unbeaten in all six League Cup H2Hs at home (W3, D3), even though their last such contest dates back to October 2009.

Arsenal Preview

Before turning a 1-0 half-time lead into a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Manchester City on New Year’s Day, Arsenal had gone unbeaten in their previous 11 competitive home games (W10, D1). 

Since moving to the Emirates in 2006/07, the Gunners have racked up more home victories in the League Cup (22) than any other side in the competition. 

It is worth noting that all of their six home defeats in the competition in that time have come to fellow Premier League rivals. 

Despite boasting some prominent names alongside the frontline, Arsenal’s best scorer in the League Cup matches at the Emirates is up-and-coming forward Eddie Nketiah.

The 22-year-old has tallied seven goals in his five Carabao Cup appearances at this venue.

Liverpool Preview

Following a run of three consecutive triumphs on hostile turf, Liverpool have gone winless in their last three road trips in all competitions (D2, L1) despite breaking the deadlock twice in that sequence.

With the Reds keeping just one clean sheet in their last seven away games across various competitions, it comes as no surprise that they have joined the race for Sevilla centre-back Jules Kounde. 

There is a silver lining for the Merseysiders amid these tumultuous times, considering they have won more League Cup matches away from home (56) than any other side in the competition’s history.

Since Klopp arrived at the helm back in 2015, Liverpool have won eight of their 11 League Cup away fixtures, including the last three in a row.

Arsenal will have to keep a watchful eye on Roberto Firmino, who has scored his career joint-high eight goals against the Gunners.

Arsenal vs Liverpool Predicted Line-ups

Arsenal (4-4-2): Aaron Ramsdale; Calum Chambers, Rob Holding, Gabriel, Kieran Tierney; Bukayo Saka, Ben White, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Gabriel Martinelli; Alexandre Lacazette, Eddie Nketiah.

Liverpool (4-3-3): Alisson Becker; Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joel Matip, Virgil van Dijk, Andy Robertson; Jordan Henderson, Fabinho, Curtis Jones; Takumi Minamino, Robert Firmino, Diogo Jota.