Chelsea vs Arsenal: Match preview, head-to-head, team news, line-ups, prediction

Chelsea face Arsenal in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.

Chelsea won 3-1 at Cardiff City in the quarter-finals, while the Gunners edged past Crystal Palace after a penalty shoot-out.

Match preview

This is the second meeting between the two sides this season, following their 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge in November.

Liam Rosenior got off to a winning start as Chelsea boss, recording a 5-1 win at Charlton Athletic in the FA Cup third round.

Chelsea played with a 4-2-3-1 formation against Charlton but built up in a 3-2-2-3 system, similar to the one used by Rosenior at Strasbourg.

Arsenal are hoping to make amends for their failure to beat Chelsea last time out, despite playing with a numerical advantage for most of the game.

The Gunners came from behind to claim a 4-1 victory at Portsmouth in the FA Cup third round on Sunday.

Arsenal lost to Newcastle United at this stage of the competition last season and will be aiming to avoid the same fate this time around.

Head-to-head

The two sides have met eight times in the competition. Chelsea have registered four wins and a draw.

Team news

Chelsea are without Moises Caicedo due to suspension, while a decision will be made on the availability of Malo Gusto, Reece James and Cole Palmer.

Piero Hincapie, Max Dowman, Riccardo Calafiori and Cristhian Mosquera are sidelined for Arsenal.

Predicted line-ups

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Robert Sanchez, Malo Gusto, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Marc Cucurella, Enzo Fernandez, Reece James, Estevao, Cole Palmer, Pedro Neto, Liam Delap.

Arsenal (4-3-3): Kepa Arrizabalaga, Jurrien Timber, William Saliba, Gabriel, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Martin Zubimendi, Declan Rice, Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka, Viktor Gyokeres, Leandro Trossard.

Prediction

We predict a 2-1 Arsenal win.

Stats from transfermarkt.com.