Arsenal Vs Chelsea: The smallest of competitions yields the biggest of games

The Carabao Cup is a much-maligned competition. But as Arsenal prepare to host Chelsea in the second leg of their semi-final, suddenly, the overlooked and overmatched midweek annoyance takes centre-stage.

At the start of every season, without fail, every football of the optimistic variety, which is almost every football fan, will convince themselves that their team can have a successful season. For different teams, that means different things. Liverpool fans may believe that they can win the title; Oldham fans may simply be hoping for another season of safety. For Arsenal supporters, though, the goals that they set, the dreams that they harbour, the hopes that they allow to sprout, rarely involve the Carabao Cup.

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Formerly known as the League Cup — the number of name changes that this competition has suffered through perhaps portrays the genuine value that it has for many of the top clubs. Anyone remember the Worthington Cup? –, the midweek annoyance, as it is often seen, has been used as a vehicle for progression, not production.

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Arsene Wenger has thrust his younger players into the side, valuing the experience that he is providing them with above the joy that winning the competition brings. And that is not a contrasting use of the competition. Most Premier League managers will heavily rotate their squad during the early rounds. In fact, it is also becoming increasingly prevalent in the lower leagues. The Carabao Cup is just not a priority.

Ironic, then, that the biggest game of Arsenal’s season up until this point is a Carabao Cup fixture. Because, while they toil their way to a floundering in the top-four race, meander through equally overlooked European endeavours, and disastrously bomb out of the FA Cup at the first hurdle, the first time that they have ever done so in the 21 years that Wenger has been manager of the archetypically prolific winners, Arsenal are in the perfect chance to secure the first trophy of a season that tends to bear more troubles than triumphs.

Wednesday night’s semi-final second leg against Chelsea is the ideal opportunity for Wenger to inspire his squad to another domestic final — it would be the Gunners’ fourth cup final in the last five seasons, winning the previous three, the latest of which was against Chelsea in last season’s FA Cup final.

With Manchester City awaiting in the final after Pep Guardiola’s side squeezed past an embattled Bristol City, spurred on by their vivacious, forward-thinking young manager Lee Johnson, there are no guarantees of a trophy. City are the best team in the country. And comfortably so. Neither Arsenal nor Chelsea would be highly fancied if they were to make it to Wembley.

But anything can happen in football, especially in a 90-minute final at an unfamiliar stadium when the pressure is on. Indeed, Wenger actually overcame City in the semi-final of the FA Cup last year. They have proven their ability to upset the odds in the past. Why not again?

Next: Arsenal Vs Chelsea: Predicted starting XI

All this leads me to say this: trophies are the be all and end all. Yes, the top four is nice. Yes, playing Champions League football is extremely important. And yes, some trophies are more important, more significant, more valuable than others. But, at the end of it all, trophies are all that matter, and Arsenal have as good a chance as any to win their fourth in five years.