The 2026 EFL Cup final will be a clash between Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal and Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, the Premier League top two, after both qualified with a comfortable semi-final victory; Arsenal left it late but City put on a festival in front of their own fans.
Both Arsenal and Manchester City began their home legs with a lead, the Gunners won 3-2 away to Chelsea in their first leg while the Sky Blues beat Newcastle 2-0 at St James’ Park and the Gunners added one more goal without reply while the Sky Blues piled on another three to win their tie 5-1.
The SBOTOP EFL Cup 2026 betting odds saw this final coming and it promises to be a cracker.
Havertz is back!
You wait an age to get one striker at the Emirates…and then three come along all at once! Last season, without an out and out goal scorer, Mikel Arteta relied on Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz, makeshift options such as Mikel Merino and goals from midfielders and wide men including Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli.
The result? Another season without silverware.
It came as no surprise that Arteta moved in the market to bring in Viktor Gyokores in the summer, so prolific at Sporting Lisbon. But during most of the first half of the campaign he has been without the injured Jesus and Havertz and more pressure piled on the shoulders of Gyokores. The Swedish striker started well but then had a drought, which has happily ended in the New Year. And Gyokores’ recent goals have coincided with the return of the other two forwards, and both Jesus and Havertz have been in the goals too.
Brazil star Jesus came back with a bang, scoring a brace in a 3-1 win over Inter Milan in the Champions League and then Havertz was on the score sheet against Kairat Almaty; and it was the Germany star who won the second leg Carabao clash on Tuesday night, to give the Gunners a 4-2 aggregate victory.
Chelsea came back with a late goal at Stamford Bridge to keep the tie alive and it stayed that way, at 3-2, until deep into injury time. 97 minutes had passed when Havertz finally ended the contest, taking a pass from Declan Rice before rounding Chelsea keeper Robert Sanchez and firing into the empty net.
Arsenal are in their first cup final since 2026, they are going well in Europe, and the Gunners stretched their lead at the top of the Premier League table last weekend with a 4-0 thrashing of Leeds United, and next up they host Sunderland. So it’s all looking pretty rosy for Arteta, particularly with three strikers firing right now.
For Liam Rosenior; there is still plenty to be pleased about with his progress so far. Former Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca delivered two trophies for the Blues and, while they have crashed out of the EFL Cup, the Blues are progressing in the FA Cup and are going well in Europe.
City run riot as Toon collapse
While the all-London clash was a battle of attrition the Manchester and Newcastle affair had more EFL Cup 2026 highlights than City fans had hoped for and the Geordies feared.
The 2025 EFL Cup champions went into the second leg with a mountain to climb, and even though Guardiola insisted the tie was not over – it seems his players were determined to see off the Magpies as quickly as possible. And in a devastating first half the Sky Blues stormed into a three-goal lead on the night.
The first goal came on just seven minutes thanks to a huge slice of luck. Omar Marmoush got in behind the Newcastle defence after a smart one-two, and when Dan Burn slid in with a tackle he only diverted the City striker’s shot over his keeper Aaron Ramsdale and into the net. On the half hour City were 2-0 up and 4-0 on aggregate, and it was that man Marmoush again, nodding the ball home after Kieran Trippier’s desperate clearance looped up into his path. And it was three, just three minutes later when Tijjani Reijdners finished off a quick counter-attack when City had a three-on-two overload.
It was all too easy for the Sky Blues and it seemed like Newcastle had a long 45 minutes ahead.
Reijdners should have made it 4-0 when he side-footed wide after good work from Marmoush, but then Antony Elanga pulled a goal back for the Magpies with a superb finish. The visiting fans had something to cheer, and minutes later they were on their feet again, but Harvey Barnes’ well-directed finish was over-ruled because Yoanne Wissa was offside in the build-up.
Guardiola made his changes, bringing on Erling Haaland and Rayan Cherki, with Phil Foden and Antoine Semenyo making way, and while Cherki dazzled the hosts settled for an aggregate 5-1 win.
So we have a repeat of the 2018 final to look forward to; City won that one 3-0 and Pep Guardiola’s assistant on that day was…Mikel Arteta.
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