Arsenal goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga is relishing the prospect of knocking former club Chelsea out of the League Cup following his key role in a penalty shootout win over Crystal Palace.
The Gunners went through to the semi-finals on Tuesday after Kepa saved Maxence Lacroix’s spot-kick in a dramatic 8-7 shootout success following a 1-1 draw with Palace at the Emirates Stadium.
Kepa spent seven years with the Blues before moving to north London in pre-season and he could now deny his old side a spot in the first major final of the current campaign. It was a cathartic moment for the Spanish goalkeeper, who infamously refused to be substituted before Chelsea’s League Cup final penalty shoot-out defeat against Manchester City in 2019. Kepa also missed a spot-kick in the Blues’ 2022 League Cup final shoot-out loss to Liverpool.
Kepa, who has made all three of his Arsenal appearances so far in the League Cup, said: “Right now, if you want a trophy, and that’s something that we want, we have to fight against good teams. Both semi-finals are big games, and it’s going to be tough, but we’ll prepare well for the game, and we’ll be ready and we’ll go for it.”
Arsenal will take on Chelsea for a place at Wembley with the first of two legs to be played at Stamford Bridge on January 14 before the return match at the Emirates on February 3.
The Gunners were on course to reach the semi-finals in regulation time before Marc Guehi’s late equaliser – the third time in Arsenal’s last five fixtures the Premier League leaders’ defence has been breached in or beyond the 90th minute.
“We’ve conceded in a couple of games in the last minute so it’s something that we have to look at,” said Kepa, deputising for Arsenal first-choice keeper David Raya. The 31-year-old Spaniard added: “But we are in the next round and we’re happy. We made a huge effort. We should have scored a couple in the first half. We played so well. Then the second half was more like 50-50.”
“Credit to the guys, they took amazing penalties. They kept us in the game, and they gave me an opportunity to make a save. Emotionally, you have to be focused, be strong, because obviously when you concede in the last minute and then you have to go to penalties, you need to 100 percent be focused on your penalty takers, you need to save. So it was a change of mindset, and it worked.”
Arsenal are into the League Cup semi-finals for a second successive year as they chase their first trophy since winning the FA Cup in 2020.
The north Londoners have only won the League Cup twice, with their last triumph coming in 1992-93, before any of their current squad were born.
After celebrating Christmas on Thursday, Arteta’s men will turn their attention back to the title race with home games against Brighton and third-placed Aston Villa to close out 2025.
Winning their first English title since 2004 is clearly Arsenal’s main aim this season, but lifting the League Cup in March would be a significant boost to a club starved of silverware in recent years.
Arteta made eight changes to the side that won at Everton on Saturday.
