Chelsea suffered a 3-2 defeat against Arsenal in the League Cup semi-final first leg, with head coach Liam Rosenior attributing the loss to costly errors from his team. The match, held on January 14, 2026, at Stamford Bridge, saw Arsenal capitalize on multiple mistakes, despite a late surge from Chelsea.

• Chelsea conceded an early headed goal due to sloppy marking and a second after half-time from a goalkeeper error by Robert Sanchez.
• Liam Rosenior, in his first home match as head coach, inherited an injury-plagued squad, missing key players like Cole Palmer and Reece James.
• Arsenal's Ben White, Viktor Gyokeres, and Martin Zubimendi scored for the Gunners, while Alejandro Garnacho netted both goals for Chelsea, keeping their hopes alive for the second leg at the Emirates Stadium in February.