The Carabao Cup kings hope to have another Wembley day to celebrate. Between 2018 and 2021, Manchester City won four successive League Cups, matching Liverpool’s all-time best streak from the ’80s. In fact, the Sky Blues are eight-time EFL Cup winners; only the Reds can boast more, beaten only once in a final, this against Wolverhampton Wanderers 52 years ago.
Sunday will see the Premier League’s current top two go head-to-head at Wembley in the 66th League Cup Final, with Manchester City seeking to reassert their dominance after a trophyless campaign last time round, while simultaneously elongating Arsenal’s wait to end their own somewhat longer wait for silverware.
Pep Guardiola’s team kick off as underdogs, or so say the bookmakers, currently winless in six meetings with the Gunners, having claimed victory in 15 of their previous 16 encounters immediately beforehand. If Man City are to reign supreme at the national stadium once more, here are three players Guardiola should start.
3 players Pep Guardiola must start against Arsenal in the Carabao Cup Final
Gianluigi Donnarumma
So far, Guardiola has shown James Trafford very little room for sentiment, so will that continue this weekend? Last season, Trafford’s numbers at Burnley were off the scale. In 45 Championship matches, he kept a staggering 29 clean sheets, conceding only 15 goals, shattering every EFL record going. Thus, he was seemingly brought back to his boyhood club for £31 million to succeed Ederson as the number one, with the Brazilian sold to Fenerbahçe.
However, after only three Premier League games, Gianluigi Donnarumma was signed from PSG, meaning Trafford has merely featured in cup competitions thereafter. The 23 year old has started all five EFL Cup ties en route to this final, enjoying three shutouts and only conceding goals to Gonçalo Franco of Swansea and Newcastle’s Anthony Elanga.
Nevertheless, if Guardiola is full committed to prevailing at Wembley, he could restore Donnarumma. The Italian made eight saves during last season’s Champions League semi-final victory over Arsenal, preventing an xG figure of 2.09, so no Gooner will be pleased to see him lining up at Wembley.
Mikel Arteta is facing a similar moral quandary of whether to be loyal to Kepa Arrizabalaga or reinstate David Raya. Thus, the two team’s respective goalkeepers will be the first thing to look out for when team news drops at half past three.
John Stones
At the heart of central defence, Pep Guardiola also has a key decision to make. Having featured for Crystal Palace earlier in the competition, the slightly convoluted amended rules mean that Marc Guéhi is cup-tied and ineligible to feature in the final, a fact Guardiola was very unahppy about.
“”Hopefully we can convince the Carabao Cup that Marc Guéhi can play the final. I don’t understand why he cannot… You buy a player for a lot of money and he is not able to play for a rule I don’t understand. Hopefully they can change it… we pay his salary, he is our player. “”
Pep Guardiola on 4 February
In his absence, he now must decide who to deploy as Rúben Dias’ partner. Joško Gvardio is sidelined long-term due to a serious tibial fracture, while Abdukodir Khusanov got the nod against Real Madrid on Tuesday. However, John Stones appears the obvious choice for this final.
Due to injury issues, the 31 year old has racked up only 968 minutes across all competitions this season, starting a miserly four Premier League games, his most-recent league appearance of any kind coming at Craven Cottage on 2 December. However, he captained the side in the FA Cup at St James’ Park earlier this month and was excellent, simply doing John Stones things, completing 64 of 71 passes, racking up five clearances and winning four out of four aerial duels.
Thus, fitness permitting, Stones is surely Guardiola’s best bet at centre-back, with Nathan Aké, Khusanov and youngster Max Alleyne the less than flawless alternatives.
Antoine Semenyo
Going forward, Guardiola has a plethora of options from which to chose. Bernardo Silva, Rayan Cherki, Phil Foden, Jérémy Doku, Savinho and Omar Marmoush are all in the running to start or feature at some stage, in support of Erling Haaland, but Antoine Semenyo has to be in the XI.
The Ghanian international did actually feature for Bournemouth in the second round in August but, unlike, Guéhi, is eligible, having been registered before the semi-finals. If we’re being honest, either both or neither should be allowed to play, but them’s the rules. Well, it’s just as well Semenyo did arrive on time, considering he opened the scoring on Tyneside during the semi-final first leg, one of the seven he has bagged for Man City so far, their only truly reliable goal-scorer in 2026.
|
Players |
Goals in 2026 |
|---|---|
|
Antoine Semenyo |
7 |
|
Erling Haaland |
5 |
|
Omar Marmoush |
5 |
|
Rayan Cherki |
4 |
|
Nico O’Reilly |
4 |
|
Tijjani Reijnders |
3 |
|
Bernardo Silva |
2 |
|
Rodri |
2 |
|
Rico Lewis |
2 |
|
Savinho |
1 |
|
Marc Guéhi |
1 |
|
Max Alleyne |
1 |
|
Ryan McAidoo |
1 |
Amazingly, only Semenyo, Haaland and Marmoush have scored more than four goals in 2026 thus far, with neither Doku nor Foden yet to even get off the mark since New Year’s Day. Not just that, since making the switch from Bournemouth, Semenyo has looked like Man City’s most dangerous and most dynamic forward player, so could he be the hero in Sky Blue on Sunday?