Man City boost, Arsenal doubts - Blockbuster Carabao Cup final can change everything

Manchester City take on Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley on Sunday in a game that will decide the first silverware of the season and have potentially huge ramifications for the Premier League and the future

Manchester City and Arsenal meet at Wembley on Sunday in what promises to be a blockbuster Carabao Cup final.

The Gunners will start as favourites and remain on for a potential quadruple having opened up a nine-point lead at the top of the Premier League - albeit having played a game more than City - and secured a spot in the Champions League quarter-finals.

City's European campaign was ended this week by Real Madrid but the Blues are still fighting on three fronts and this weekend's showdown will be significant for both sides regardless of who wins. So what impact will the game have on City and Arsenal for the rest of this season and the future? We asked writers from both camps for their verdict.

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Simon Bajkowski

It feels like beating Arsenal will really do a lot more than just lifting a trophy. Guardiola spoke after the Real game that this team will be better next season. You want those trophies as reassurance. If they can point to this trophy, they can say look, this is the start of a new cycle

Arsenal have had multiple opportunities to end this title race and they haven't. So for the project City could really do with the win It feels like a trophy this season would go a long way towards helping City improve for next season, but also showing that they where they want to be, or getting to where they want be.

Alex James

This final will not only set the tone for the next six weeks, but the next six months and beyond.

If City lose, then it's two trophy opportunities gone in the space of a week and Arsenal get the lift heading into the rest of this season. They haven't won a trophy in a while and they get that monkey off their back, they get a boost going into the rest of this campaign where they look clear favourites to win the league and it could snowball for Arsenal from Sunday.

But, if City win, with a two-week gap to everyone playing again and a longer gap until the next league game, there is a chance for seeds of doubt to be sewn at Arsenal. They miss the chance to lift a trophy, City get a huge confidence boost, it will feel like a fillip in the title race even though that picture remains the same, and the pressure just ramps up a bit more on this Arsenal side and those questions of bottle and getting across the line just resurface a bit.

John Cross

Title races are all about squeaky bum time and mind games. That is why the outcome of the Carabao Cup final is so important for Arsenal and Manchester City in the context of the rest of the season.

If Arsenal win, it will give them so much belief that they are finally ready to overhaul City and step out of Pep Guardiola’s shadow as the dominant force in English football. Equally, if City beat Arsenal then it will give them confidence that actually they are good enough to come back, overhaul Mikel Arteta’s men and be crowned champions again.

When the going gets tough, so much of football is about mentality. Don’t believe me? Well, when City went from being 1-0 down at Liverpool with just six minutes left to win at Anfield then it gave Arsenal the most almighty hangover.

City’s tails were up. They beat Fulham three days later. Arsenal were rocked. It felt like a defeat at the training ground. A few days later, they were held at Brentford. Soon after, they drew at Wolves. Genuinely, the psychology of it all is huge.

Last weekend, the roles were reversed. I am convinced that if Arsenal drew with Everton, then City would have won at West Ham. But because Arsenal won late on, City were flat and were held by West Ham. All these things matter. And that’s why Sunday matters so much. The winner might just take it all.