Arsenal v Manchester City - Carabao Cup 2017-18 Final: 5-Point Preview 

The first piece of silverware available this season is on the line this Sunday as Arsenal and Manchester City square off at Wembley. The two teams have had a season of mixed fortunes so far – Manchester City have asserted unparalleled dominance in the English top tier, while Arsenal, in contrast, have been toiling and slowly crawling towards a respectable end to the season.

While a trophy is a strong enough reason to fight tooth and nail for 90 minutes, thinking about the outcome of this match raises different thoughts and questions about the immediate future of the two clubs. With that said, let’s jump right into the 5-point preview for the upcoming match.

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#5 Manchester City are the more successful club in League Cup

This one might come as a surprise, considering how Arsenal are one of the most successful clubs in the country, and while their league objectives over the decade have been to finish in the Champions League places, they have stepped up their mindset and game in the domestic cup matches.

However, those domestic cup matches have not been in the League Cup, and instead have been in the more prestigious FA Cup. When it comes to the League Cup, Arsenal have often neglected this competition and have made it evident by fielding weaker lineups, giving chances to their academy products to have a go at the first-team setup.

This competition clearly doesn’t fall in their plans, which shows by their performance – between the 2013/14 and the 2016/17 seasons, Arsenal managed to reach the quarterfinals only once. Want more trivia for your next football quiz? Arsene Wenger, in his 20+ years at the club, has never won the League Cup.

Manchester City, on the other hand, seem to take this competition a bit more seriously. Over the aforementioned time period, City have managed to go all the way twice. A win on Sunday will give them their 5th League Cup (currently called the Carabao Cup for sponsorship purposes) title and would put them on second in the all-time standings, tied with Aston Villa and their neighbours Manchester United.

#4 Arsenal’s Wembley record

Wembley is arguably Arsenal's second home

Tottenham Hotspur might have adopted Wembley as their temporary home, while their new stadium is being constructed, but if there is a club that could possibly say that Wembley is their second home, it’s Arsenal.

Since losing the 2011 League Cup final to Birmingham, the Gunners went on a 9-match winning streak at Wembley, pocketing three FA Cup titles, and three season-opener Community Shields along the way.

The streak came to a halt only a couple of weeks ago when a Harry Kane goal gave Spurs an all-important North London derby victory in the Premier League.

But this is not the occasion where they are visiting Tottenham’s temporary home, this is the occasion where cup finals are played and legends are made. Arsenal will be looking to improve upon that strong record, by winning their last Wembley match of the season.

#3 Road to the final

Arsenal would probably not have been here if not for this guy, Eddie Nketiah

Both teams battled, in their own peculiar ways, towards getting a ticket to Wembley. When it comes to the difficulty of the opponents, Arsenal arguably had the tougher road, having had the challenge of navigating through Chelsea over two legs in the semifinal.

However, City had to face a different challenge, having been made to work hard and go through penalty shoot-outs in a couple of matches.

Both teams faced the possibility of being knocked out in the 4th round, and that resulted in the emergence of two unlikely heroes. The Gunners were five minutes away from another exit before the quarterfinal stage when 18-year old Eddie Nketiah took it upon himself and scored a brace to ensure progression.

On the same night, City’s League Cup number 1, Claudio Bravo had a heroic night as he strung up a series of saves both in normal time and in the penalty shootout to avoid a shocking home defeat to send City through to the quarterfinal.

With a lot at stake in the final, both players might end up not playing the match, but without their timely and efficient contributions, this Wembley date between the two teams would not have been possible.

#2 Is this Arsene Wenger’s last final with Arsenal?

Is this going to be the last final of his Arsenal career?

With every passing day and season, and with every failure, which has now become commonplace, the doubts over Arsene Wenger’s future and the calls for his Arsenal exit keep increasing.

However, despite all the criticism that surrounds Wenger and Arsenal Football Club, they don’t get entangled by it. It’s always business as usual at Arsenal and they keep on to the work that actually matters, which is playing competitive football.

It’s a second domestic cup final in as many years, and while Wenger was expected to call it quits after the victorious conclusion of last year’s FA Cup, he ended up signing a new contract. Fans didn’t approve of the confusion surrounding his future, as it gave rise to numerous avoidable problems.

The problems are not yet sorted, but perhaps this is an opportunity for him to get a gracious exit from a club where a majority of the fans don’t want him anymore.

#1 Will Pep Guardiola get off the mark?

He has waited for a trophy for so long, and the wait might end this Sunday

Pep Guardiola came to England with a reputation that preceded him, and then English football happened to him. For the first time in his managerial career, he went a complete season without winning a trophy.

It took him time to understand the footballing system and impose his strong tactical philosophy on his players, and it looks like he has finally achieved it.

The current crop of Manchester City players are now being compared to the likes of Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona and Sir Alex Ferguson’s treble-winning Manchester United team. They might probably be playing like them, but without any trophies to boast of, they are not quite there yet.

This could well be the trophy that helps reinforce the belief that Manchester City are indeed becoming a legendary team, and could help Pep Guardiola get off the mark in English football, in terms of silverware.