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Arsenal braced for in-form Chelsea as Mikel Arteta looks to replace injured Mikel Merino

Liam Rosenior's Chelsea have won all five matches since losing to Arsenal in the first leg last month, directly qualifying for the Champions League's ‍round ⁠of 16 after finishing sixth in the European competition's league phase and rising to fifth in the Premier League.

2 min readFeb 3, 2026 12:50 AM IST

Arsenal's Martin Zubimendi, second left, celebrates with teammates after scoring the opening goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Leeds United and Arsenal in Leeds, England, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Ian Hodgson)

A 3-2 advantage going into Tuesday’s League Cup semi-final second leg at home offers no extra comfort to Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, who expects in-form Chelsea to pose his team a difficult challenge.

Liam Rosenior’s Chelsea have won all five matches since losing to Arsenal in the first leg last month, directly qualifying for the Champions League’s ‍round ⁠of 16 after finishing sixth in the European competition’s league phase and rising to fifth in the Premier League.

“Tomorrow we have the home advantage, but we have a lot to do to beat a really good Chelsea side,” Arteta told ‌reporters on Monday.

“I think Liam is doing an incredible job… we need to make it very concrete to win it,” he added further.

Rosenior, who took charge at Chelsea last month, has won every match other than the first-leg clash
with Arsenal, and called Arteta’s men the favourites to win the tie.

“They’re a goal up and they’re at home. They’ll expect to go through. We need to take it ‌as far as we can,” the Chelsea manager said. But Arsenal, upbeat after a 4-0 league win at Leeds ‌United, received a new injury blow with midfielder Mikel Merino set for surgery on a fractured ‌foot he suffered during the loss to Manchester United a couple of weeks ago.

“He is a big player for us. It’s a big ‌blow… it’s a ‍very rare ⁠injury. We’ll have to keep monitoring it,” Arteta said.

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With the winter transfer window closing on Monday, Arteta said ⁠Arsenal would see if someone was available ⁠to fill the void.

“When you lose a big player in the squad… you need to do everything you can to see if someone ‌is available. If not, we move on,” the manager said.

“The news of Mikel was very surprising. My ‌day will be a bit busier than usual.”