oi-Prateek Bannerjee

Sunday’s massive Carabao Cup Final at Wembley Stadium promises to be a thriller as Arsenal take on Manchester City. Mikel Arteta’s Gunners are chasing their first League Cup trophy in decades, while Pep Guardiola’s City are looking to bounce back from their Champions League exit.

Millions of fans across the globe are eagerly waiting for the kick-off. However, just hours before the match, Arsenal fans received some unexpected team news. Eberechi Eze has been ruled out of the matchday squad.

Arsenal Starting XI vs Man City

With Eze out and Ødegaard unavailable, Arteta will have to shuffle his attacking lineup.

Arsenal: Kepa Arrizabalaga, Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, Piero Hincapie, Declan Rice, Martin Zubimendi ,Bukayo Saka, Leandro Trossard, Kai Havertz, Viktor Gyökeres

Why Eberechi Eze is Not Playing Today in Carabao Cup Final?

The biggest shock for Arsenal fans today is the absence of Eberechi Eze. Earlier in the week, it looked like Eze would be ready to start. He picked up a minor knock during Arsenal’s intense 1-1 draw against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League during the midweek. Initially, the medical staff thought it was just a dead leg.

However, during Arsenal’s final high-intensity training session at London Colney on Saturday, the injury flared up again. To avoid turning a minor muscle strain into a long-term tear-especially with the Premier League title race heating up-Mikel Arteta and the medical team made the safe choice to pull him from the squad. Arsenal cannot afford to risk losing one of their most creative players for the rest of the season just for one cup final.

Why Kepa Arrizabalaga is Playing Instead of David Raya

When fans look at the starting lineup, seeing Kepa Arrizabalaga in goal instead of the usual number one, David Raya, might raise some eyebrows. However, this is not due to any injury or poor form from Raya.

This decision comes down to Mikel Arteta’s strict “cup goalkeeper” rotation policy. Since joining Arsenal on loan, Kepa has been the designated goalkeeper for all domestic cup competitions (the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup). Raya plays the Premier League and Champions League matches. Arteta is honoring the promise he made to Kepa at the start of the season. Playing Kepa rewards the Spanish goalkeeper for his hard work in training and keeps him match-sharp in case Raya ever gets injured. Kepa has already helped Arsenal win penalty shootouts in the earlier rounds to get them to Wembley, meaning he has fully earned his spot in today’s final.

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