Arsenal and Manchester City have taken huge steps towards reaching the League Cup final, leaving Chelsea and Newcastle United with a mountain to climb ahead of the second legs.
Newcastle’s hopes of becoming the first reigning champions to defend their crown since Man City in 2020 and 2021 are in tatters following a 2-0 first-leg defeat at home.
Chelsea slumped to a goal-laden 3-2 defeat at Stamford Bridge in the other semi-final first leg, casting major doubt on their hopes of reaching their second final in three years.
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It’s worth noting that Chelsea and Newcastle have their work cut out for them – the top two sides in the Premier League are also the betting favourites to reach the final in March.
However, Arsenal and Man City would be naive to take first-leg results for granted despite setting one foot in the title-deciding showpiece at Wembley Stadium.
Newcastle United vs Manchester City
Man City halted Newcastle’s formidable 13-game unbeaten streak at St James’ Park with a 2-0 victory on Tuesday as Antonie Semenyo and Rayan Cherki scored beyond half-time to secure a comfortable first-leg lead.
City could have walked away with a three-goal advantage had it not been for referee Chris Kavanagh’s highly controversial decision to disallow Semenyo’s goal midway through the second half.
Kavanagh’s unfathomable call left Pep Guardiola fuming, prompting his post-match rant. Speaking to Sky Sport, Guardiola admitted he was ‘pretty sure the official is going to call me tomorrow’.
Despite that incident, the Cityzens remain in the driver’s seat at the midway point of this semi-final tie, with Newcastle forced to defy the odds to reach back-to-back finals.
Man City won the first leg as narrow favourites at 3/2, setting themselves up perfectly for the return fixture at the Etihad Stadium.
Newcastle must now do two things they have never achieved on this ground under Eddie Howe. They’ve yet to score, let alone win a match at the Etihad under his guidance.
With that in mind, the Magpies will need a performance of a lifetime to turn this tie on its head, the sort they produced en route to beating Liverpool to the title last season.
Suffice it to say, bookies currently view Howe’s side as 40/1 outsiders to ascend the throne, perhaps best illustrating the magnitude of the task awaiting them in the second leg.
Man City are the clear frontrunners to hoist the trophy for a ninth time, with bookmakers pricing them at 6/5 to take Newcastle’s crown and close the gap on record-time champions Liverpool (10).
Chelsea vs Arsenal
Robert Sanchez was the architect of Chelsea’s disappointing 3-2 defeat to fellow London rivals Arsenal in a breathless first-leg showdown at Stamford Bridge.
The Spanish goalkeeper first failed to intercept Declan Rice’s corner-kick delivery, which led to Ben White’s opener, before letting a cross squirm through his fingers for Viktor Gyokeres to double Arsenal’s lead.
Sanchez’s costly errors could soon come back to haunt him, as Chelsea recalled Teddy Sharman-Lowe from his loan spell at Bolton Wanderers, as per the Standard.
However, Alejandro Garnacho’s best performance since joining the club from Manchester United in the summer keeps the Blues’ hopes of winning their first League Cup title since 2015 alive.
Garnacho scored a second-half brace to give his side a fighting chance in the reverse fixture, even though it wasn’t enough to save Liam Rosenior from losing his first game at the Bridge.
Despite failing to manage a full-scale comeback, Chelsea will not go down without a fight at the Emirates Stadium, where they’ve lost their last three matches against Arsenal.
On that basis, it’s unsurprising that the Gunners are odds-on favourites to progress from this tie and move one step closer towards winning the League Cup trophy for the first time since 1993.
While the potential task of beating Man City in the grand final would be nothing short of Herculean, Mikel Arteta’s team are rated as 1/1 shots to end their long-standing title drought in this competition.
