- Arsenal take on Chelsea in the League Cup semi-finals, first leg on Wednesday night
- Ozil has emerged as a serious doubt to feature due to knee injury
- Wenger could be without him for crucial clash as pressure ramps up
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After being dumped out of the FA Cup at the weekend, the League Cup has arguably taken on more importance for Arsenal this week.
The Gunners travel to Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night for the first leg of their semi-final clash with Chelsea, as they’ll hope that they can take a positive result back to the Emirates with them.
Unfortunately for Arsenal fans though, they could be made to attempt it without one of their key players, as The Mirror claim that Mesut Ozil has emerged as a major doubt to feature for the visitors.
It’s claimed that the German playmaker has been struggling with a knee injury and didn’t train on Tuesday which has raised real doubts over whether or not he’ll be able to take on Antonio Conte’s men.
Given his habit of going missing in big games, perhaps this isn’t the end of the world for Arsenal. However, there is no denying that he has been in good form this season and remains one of the most influential players in the line-up for Arsene Wenger.
In turn, it’s going to be a huge blow if Ozil isn’t available, as a case could be made that the Gunners have to play a full-strength side for this one if they genuinely want to keep their hopes of winning silverware alive.
While they still have big hopes in the Europa League after coasting through the group stage, they face a battle to finish in the top four as they currently sit five points adrift of fourth-placed Liverpool.
As a result, this could be their best shot to give their fans something to cheer about, albeit it’s nowhere near good enough, and so being without Ozil, who has four goals and five assists in 18 outings this season, is going to be a huge loss for them.