Arsenal vs Liverpool Preview

Arsenal will welcome Liverpool to the Emirates this Thursday for the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final. This is the 235th head-to-head meeting between both sides with the first contest dating all the way back to 1893.

The Gunners beat Division Two side Sunderland 5-1 in the last round to book their place in this round.

They come into this tie on the back of a disappointing 2-1 loss to Manchester City, a match that saw them reduced to ten men early in the second half.

Despite that loss, Mikel Arteta’s side made a good account of themselves and showed that they have improved under the Spaniard.

Arteta is eyeing his second piece of major silverware for the club and a direct route into Europe, and may be tempted to play a full-strength side here.

A win in this first leg will give them the advantage in their bid to progress from the semi’s for the fourth time in their last five attempts.

Liverpool meanwhile come into this tie fresh from a disappointing 2-2 draw with Chelsea.

The Reds led 2-0 in the match but could not hold on allowing Chelsea to equalize and in the process extend their winless run to two games.

They’ll now attempt to get a win against an Arsenal side who they are playing in the League Cup for the 13th time. In that period Arsenal remained undefeated on home turf against their Merseyside enemies (W3, D3).

However, Jürgen Klopp’s side look like they are keen on this competition this year, recovering from a two-goal deficit twice in the last EFL round.

They come into this tie confident as they hope to avoid the fate of falling out of the competition at this stage in two of their last three attempts.