Arsenal set up Carabao Cup final date with Manchester City as Granit Xhaka's winner ousts Chelsea

Xhaka's second-half effort proves decisive as two-time winners Arsenal come from behind to set up a Carabao Cup final clash with Manchester City on 25 February - their 10th Wembley appearance in less than four years.

That is about it from me, thanks for following along. Be sure to revisit IBTimes UK this weekend for the FA Cup fourth round as Manchester United travel to Yeovil, Newport host Tottenham, Liverpool meet West Brom and Chelsea look to bounce back against Newcastle.

Goodnight.

Full-time

Arsenal 2-1 Chelsea

Brilliant from Zappacosta to bring a difficult ball under control and win a last-second corner.

Barkley's wretched near-post cross is eased away by Elneny and the final whistle sounds. Arsenal have done it.

Zappacosta takes on Monreal and sends in a cross towards Alonso that is headed away by Xhaka.

Barkley tries to usher the ball onto his right foot but has his pocket picked by Wilshere.

The former Everton stalwart wins it back and Hazard finds space down the left before producing a delivery that is caught safely by Ospina.

Batshuayi cannot stop Zappacosta's header from drifting out of play as Chelsea toil in search of a leveller.

The fourth official raises his board to indicate four minutes of additional time.

A chance for Chelsea to work a late opening as Mustafi trips Barkley.

Alonso's terrible 30-yard free-kick is miles off target.

Monreal shows great anticipation to intercept a pass intended for Zappacosta and is quickly pulled back by the Italian.

Xhaka takes Mustafi's lofted free-kick on his chest before the ball runs out of play.

Wenger looks to his bench for the first time with only seven minutes remaining.

Sead Kolasinac replaces Lacazette.

In Italy, Dzeko has just earned Roma a point with a last-gasp equaliser against Sampdoria...

Zappacosta hangs up a looping back-post cross and Bellerin makes a brave block to stop Alonso's fizzing volley.

Rudiger gets up above Mustafi but the ball rather bounces off his head and over.

The hugely impressive Monreal makes an important sliding challenge on Zappacosta after an Arsenal attack breaks down following a woeful cross-field pass from Lacazette.

What was he thinking?

Caballero makes a vital save to deny Iwobi after a gorgeous Arsenal passing move started in his own half by Elneny and also featuring Xhaka, Lacazette and Ozil.

Chelsea quickly head down the other end and a low cross from Alonso towards Zappacosta is turned behind by Monreal.

Alonso smashes an errant shot high into the stands. 15 minutes left for Chelsea to find an equaliser that would send this semi-final second-leg into extra-time.

Lacazette demands Kante be booked for a shove in midfield, but the referee settles for a stern word in the ear.

Davide Zappacosta for Moses is Conte's third and final substitution.

Xhaka hammers a left-footed shot well wide after another incisive Arsenal attack involving Bellerin and Lacazette.

Chelsea offering nothing at present with a little over 20 minutes remaining. Batshuayi is on for Pedro.

Iwobi and Monreal battle away against Hazard, with the latter cautioned for his overzealous approach to stopping the Chelsea man.

Pedro's chip doesn't come close to fooling Ospina, who stayed on his line.

Moses commits an ugly challenge on Iwobi and quickly receives a booking before watching on anxiously as Michael Oliver consults with the VAR.

Yellow it stays.

This just hasn't been poor old Rudiger's night.

The German defender deflects Lacazette's pass into the path of Xhaka, who gets there ahead of Azpilicueta to poke the ball beyond Caballero.

That was good old-fashioned centre-forward play from Lacazette, who ran the channel after initially receiving possession from Xhaka and showed good strength to hold off Christensen.

Goal: Arsenal 2-1 Chelsea (Granit Xhaka)

Ozil releases Iwobi, whose cutback intended for Lacazette is thumped behind by Azpilicueta.

Monreal gets his head to another corner but Kante clears.

Two more offside decisions go against Ozil and Lacazette, the first of which was incredibly tight.

Hazard bursts forward on the counter for Chelsea and looks to be in on goal before crashing to the turf under pressure from Mustafi.

Replays show there was no contact and that the Belgian playmaker simply fell under his own weight.

Hazard, who did not appeal for a foul, gets to his feet and sees a shot deflected wide by Xhaka.

Lacazette took a painful blow to the foot from Bakayoko there but looks fine to run it off.

He wins a free kick off his compatriot down the Chelsea left before the offside flag is raised.

Should mention that Wenger has switched to three at the back here, with Elneny dropping into defence.

Arsenal spreading the ball well here as they look to build some sustained pressure.

Lacazette battles to win possession back from Kante before a Hazard-inspired Chelsea counter that is stopped by a fine sliding challenge from Xhaka - not too often you can say that!

Xhaka nips in ahead of Lacazette and lashes a wild shot over the crossbar.

Back underway at the Emirates. No further changes.

Conte will not be happy to see Willian join the likes of Morata, Courtois and Fabregas on the sidelines.

Here's a look at his new £15m signing in action...

All square once again between these two London rivals after an incredibly unfortunate own goal from Rudiger cancelled out Hazard's early effort.

It's certainly been a more entertaining contest than the first leg, with Pedro's strike ruled out for offside and Xhaka and Ozil also going close.

Penalties are no longer a possibility - but we will be heading to extra-time as things stand.

Half-time

Arsenal 1-1 Chelsea

Elneny's shouts for handball go unheeded after an ambitious long-range shot is blocked by Kante.

Barkley is unable to spark a Chelsea counter and Ozil's strike from inside the box deflects narrowly wide off Christensen.

Iwobi becomes the latest Arsenal player to be caught offside.

Three minutes of added time signalled by the fourth official.

Barkley digs out a cross from the byline that is headed away by Mustafi. Chelsea apply more pressure before Lacazette gets back to help tidy things up.

Koscielny limps away gingerly after a lunging tackle on Hazard.

TV broadcast reports that it is indeed a hamstring injury for Willian, but a tweak more than a tear.

Lacazette flagged for offside as he races into the right channel to collect a searching pass.

Ozil is then sandwiched by a trio of Chelsea defenders and delivers a free-kick that is headed tamely towards Caballero by Monreal.

Hazard receives Alonso's pass down the Chelsea left and turns and races beyond Koscielny before seeing a dangerous low cross turned behind by Shkodran Mustafi.

Barkley's busy start continues as he gives away another free-kick near the byline for a rusty challenge on Koscielny.

Hazard, forming a two-man wall with his new teammate, deflects Granit Xhaka's whipped effort onto the roof of the net.

Wilshere overruns the ball and ends up clattering into Barkley. Yellow card.

With half an hour on the clock and a smattering of boos from the home fans, Barkley comes on to make his first appearance for Chelsea.

He immediately gets straight into the action, taking a tumble after going up against Koscielny and giving away a free-kick for a foul on Wilshere.

Should have said this at the time really, but Chelsea's early goal tonight means that penalties are no longer a possibility.

If the scores are level at the end of 90 minutes, then extra-time will be played.

However, if they are still level at the end of that, then the tie will be decided on away goals.

Willian has picked up a knock here and will not be able to continue. Possible hamstring problem?

Looks like Barkley is preparing to make his Chelsea debut.

Another Moses shot from a corner is blocked after Laurent Koscielny puts the ball behind.

Some uncertain goalkeeping from Ospina almost presents Chelsea with another chance, but Arsenal eventually clear their lines.

Alexandre Lacazette turns Christensen after a terrific clipped ball over the top from Elneny.

The Frenchman fails to properly bring it under control and Azpilicueta snuffs out the danger.

Another lovely leave from Hazard presents Willian with an opportunity.

Monreal does just enough to force the Brazilian to skew his shot wide of Ospina's left-hand post.

Arsenal look to launch a swift counter-attack after defending a couple of quickfire Chelsea corners and Hazard, who is used to being fouled in these sorts of situations, picks up the evening's first booking for bringing down Ozil.

Arsenal back on level terms within five minutes in comical fashion.

Monreal's header from an Ozil corner takes a double deflection off the heads of Alonso and Antonio Rudiger before ending up in the back of the net.

That will go down as an own goal from the desperately unlucky German.

Goal: Arsenal 1-1 Chelsea (Antonio Rudiger OG)

Caballero looks like he will be fine to continue. No Chelsea debut for third-stringer Eduardo.

Moses touches a searching cross from Hector Bellerin behind for a corner.

Arsenal look to hit straight back as Iwobi releases Jack Wilshere and Caballero rushes out to make the block.

He then reacts quickly to claw the ball away from Monreal, hurting his knee in the process. The Chelsea physios are summoned.

It's been a really sloppy opening from Arsenal and they go behind after only six minutes.

Kante and Pedro combine to release Hazard, who coolly slots beyond Ospina with his left foot after selling a nice dummy earlier in the move.

Goal: Arsenal 0-1 Chelsea (Eden Hazard)

Goaa...no!

No need for the VAR here after Pedro finishes Cesar Azpilicueta's excellent cross. Clearly offside.

Moses drags a disappointing shot well wide of the post after Willian's short corner to the edge of the box intended to bypass Arsenal's zonal marking system.

Alex Iwobi does well to dispossess fellow Nigerian international Victor Moses after a poor pass from N'Golo Kante.

However, he gifts possession straight back to Marcos Alonso, who combines with Pedro before Tiemoue Bakayoko's strike is deflected behind by Mohamed Elneny.

Referee Michael Oliver - assisted by VAR Neil Swarbrick at Premier League Production HQ at Stockley Park in Uxbridge - gets this second-leg tie underway.

No need for any away strips tonight - it's red and white against blue at the Emirates.

The teams have emerged from the tunnel...

A sign that Wenger is taking this competition much more seriously now as he looks to finally secure the only piece of major domestic silverware that has eluded him during his 22-year spell in English football.

Dzeko starts for Roma against Sampdoria in Serie A tonight...

A reminder that the video assistant referee system (VAR) will be in use again this evening, as it was in a quiet first leg when it was briefly used to assess two penalty shouts.

Conte will be hoping to avoid a repeat of that aforementioned Norwich replay, when Willian was booked for diving in the box when he should have been awarded a penalty.

Here's a reminder of how it all works...

Conte described reaching the final as an "important target" for him personally after previous Wembley defeats - both to Arsenal - in the FA Cup final and Community Shield.

He also forecasted a more open game and stressed the need for his players to remain focused when out of possession.

"When you play against Arsenal, you must be prepared to suffer without the ball," he said. "They like to be offensive and bring many players in the box to find combinations between strikers-midfielders-wingers. We must pay attention and be compact"

Predicting a more captivating affair than the first leg, where he watched from the Stamford Bridge press box as he continued to serve a three-match touchline ban, Wenger added: "It's an important game. We want to get to the final. We have an opportunity to do it at home, against Chelsea. The two teams know each very well.

"The first leg was very blocked, the second leg will certainly be more open because at some stage the teams will have to open up to try to win the game so it should be more spectacular than the first one."

Does that run of just one defeat in the last seven matches mean that Wenger has found an effective way of matching up against Chelsea?

"I'm always cautious of saying that," he said in his pre-match press conference at London Colney yesterday. "The two teams are very close to each other every time they meet and the form of the day can e a decider.

"The strength of the motivation on the day can be a decider as well. It has always been very tight, they are two good teams who know each other well now so it's very unpredictable."

No doubting who the star attraction is tonight from Arsenal's perspective, even if he isn't eligible to play...

If tonight's game does indeed come down to penalties, then Chelsea will be feeling confident with the occasionally erratic Caballero between the posts.

The experienced Argentine saved Nelson Oliviera's spot-kick for Norwich last week and was also the hero of Manchester City's League Cup final shootout win over Liverpool in 2016, repelling efforts from Lucas, Philippe Coutinho and Adam Lallana.

Conte drops Michy Batshuayi in favour of Pedro, who was also suspended for the win over Brighton. Eden Hazard will be expected to fulfill the role of a false nine in a 3-4-3 system.

Cahill and Drinkwater both come onto the bench, meaning there is no space for Charly Musonda or youngsters Ethan Ampadu and Dujon Sterling, who played in the Checkatrade Trophy quarter-final win over Oxford last night.

Willy Caballero continues in place of Courtois.

Could fit-again new signing Ross Barkley come off the bench to make his Chelsea debut after being left as an unused substitute at the Amex?

Wenger makes just the one change to the team that started against Palace, with David Ospina replacing Petr Cech in goal. The latter is omitted from the squad entirely, with third-string custodian Matt Macey named among the substitutes.

Monreal is deemed fit enough to start, while Ramsey takes a seat on the bench. Per Mertesacker also drops out of the matchday 18.

Official lineups are expected to drop in just a couple of minutes. Watch this space.

Chelsea are once again expected to be without first-choice goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who has missed each of the last two fixtures with an ankle issue and is not thought to be 100% fit despite returning to training on Tuesday.

Alvaro Morata - suspended for the trip to Brighton after his two yellow cards in the FA Cup third-round replay win over Norwich City - is also sidelined with a back injury, while Cesc Fabregas is still nursing a hamstring complaint.

Captain Gary Cahill (hamstring) and Danny Drinkwater (ankle) face fitness tests, but Andreas Christensen is available to play after being substituted with a head knock on Saturday.

Yo, Pierre, you wanna come out here?

Tonight is of course the first match of the post-Alexis Sanchez era for Arsenal and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, the player they took back from Manchester United in a rare straight swap deal earlier this week, is cup-tied having appeared for his previous employers as a substitute in their shock quarter-final defeat to Bristol City in December.

This game will come too soon in the respective recoveries of Olivier Giroud (hamstring) and Danny Welbeck (groin), while Nacho Monreal is doubtful with the Spanish defender having hurt his own hamstring after scoring and providing two assists on his return from an ankle problem against Palace.

Aaron Ramsey was expected to undergo a fitness test yesterday after missing that weekend win through illness. Long-term absentee Santi Cazorla is hoping to return in 2019 after recently undergoing a 10th operation on his gruesome achilles injury.

After Manchester City saw off the spirited challenge of Championship promotion hopefuls Bristol City last night to reach their first final under Pep Guardiola, all eyes will be on the Emirates Stadium this evening to see which fellow Premier League heavyweight will join them in the Carabao Cup showpiece at Wembley on 25 February.

Familiar opponents Arsenal and Chelsea - who must be sick of the sight of each other this season - are locked at 0-0 in their semi-final tie after a rather pedestrian goalless draw a fortnight ago that paled in comparison to the recent engrossing Premier League contest between the two London rivals.

This is the fifth time that these two sides have locked horns already this term. All four previous clashes have ended in draws and it could be that extra-time and penalties are needed to decide the winner here, with Arsene Wenger predicting a more explosive affair.

Arsenal thrashed Crystal Palace on Saturday thanks to an early four-goal blitz that ended a run of three games without a win, while Chelsea, undefeated since early December, halted a frustrating sequence of five successive draws with an Eden Hazard-inspired 4-0 demolition of Brighton.

The Gunners have lost just one of their last seven meetings against tonight's opponents, who are unbeaten on all but one of their last eight trips to north London in all competitions.

So forget the non-stop transfer speculation regarding Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Edin Dzeko, Emerson Palmieri et al and let actual football take centre stage once again as IBTimes UK provides all the latest team news and live updates after kick-off at 20.00 GMT.