Press conference

Will this Chelsea game be like the last one?

The Arsenal v Chelsea January trilogy continues on Wednesday night with the first leg of our Carabao Cup semi-final against the Blues at Stamford Bridge.

Part one was a 2-2 thriller in the Premier League. So how might part two unfold?

Arsene Wenger thinks the mindset of the two teams might be different this time.

“In the championship both teams have one game to get the three points,” he said. “In this tie, over 180 minutes, it’s always a bit different.

“You want to go there, be solid and try to take advantage of every mistake, of every weakness, to win the game. We also know there is another game after that, and we need to be solid defensively too.

“I believe it can be a very attractive game, but football is so unpredictable it can as well be a locked game, where both teams know each other well, they know they have 180 minutes to win the tie, so both things are possible. It can be a crazy game, but as well it can be locked.

“Overall we gave too many chances away in the game [last week] and we were a bit unlucky as well as their penalty was a bit unfortunate.

Overall going forward we were outstanding, we had some outstanding moments in our game of combination at high pace and created football we want to play, and as well I believe we showed mental resources until the last minute. The players’ [attitude] has been outstanding and we responded again to come back to 2-2.

“I would love to win [the Carabao Cup] because we are now in the semi-final and if it’s an opportunity we will try to take it. There is still a long way to go because you have Man City against Bristol City and then it is us against Chelsea, so it is a bit similar to last year in the FA Cup.”

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