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Arsenal will have a huge benefit in the Carabao Cup final against Manchester City they were not afforded six years ago when they won the FA Cup
Arsenal are set to play their first Wembley cup final since the FA Cup victory over Chelsea in 2020. Their opponents, the team who the Gunners eliminated at the semi-final stage nearly six years ago, are Manchester City.
This cup final, famously, came during Mikel Arteta’s first season in charge, having taken over the previous December. It was not even his first full season, and had taken over a side who, under Unai Emery, had both lost their way on the pitch and behind the scenes.
Mistakes were frequent, and efficiency was non-existent. Yet, the Spaniard found a way to win, much to do with a system change, which, if you look at Arteta’s more recent sides, is a total contrast.
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A back four is the foundation of Arsenal’s establishment back amongst the elite and has made them favourites for the Premier League title. However, this was not the case in 2020, and the likes of Gabriel, William Saliba, Jurrien Timber, Piero Hincapie and Riccardo Calafiori were still awaiting their arrivals at the club.
Facing off against Mason Mount, Olivier Giroud and Christian Pulisic that day was a back five made up of (right to left): Hector Bellerin, Rob Holding, David Luiz, Kieran Tierney and Ainsley Maitland-Niles. Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Sead Kolasinac also came on as late changes in the game to help see out the two-goal win.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was the headline grabber, scoring once from the spot to equalise after a fifth-minute Pulisic opener, and then scoring the winner in the second half after a strong counterattack and good work from Bellerin and Nicolas Pepe.
But what set this apart from all the other FA Cup final victories for the Gunners was the abject silence inside Wembley Stadium. No supporters allowed inside, and the only noise that could be heard was the shouts from players and coaches.
For this Carabao Cup final, more than 32000 Arsenal fans will be inside Wembley, cheering on their team in the hope of ending this near six-year wait for a piece of silverware. It comes in a week where the Gunners progressed through to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League, a reality that was not even possible in 2020, with the club playing only Europa League football at the time.
Meanwhile, their final opponents, City, were knocked of the Champions League on Tuesday after back-to-back defeats to Real Madrid. Arteta beat Pep Guardiola in the semi-final of the FA Cup in 2020, with Aubameyang scoring twice again.
Bukayo Saka, who was an unused substitute in both the semi-final and final, is the only remaining member of that Arsenal squad who will play on Sunday. While Guardiola has three of the squad who were beaten in July of 2020; Bernardo Silva, Rodri and Phil Foden.
The squads have changed dramatically, and despite the underdog story the Gunners wrote for themselves more than half a decade ago, they will be going into this final on Sunday as favourites, expecting to condemn their title rivals to yet more pain and a seventh successive failed attempt to beat Arsenal.
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