Mikel Arteta Has the Chance to Break Unwanted Semi-Final Record

Arsenal have failed to win a semi-final under Mikel Arteta since 2020 – we analyse the patterns behind that record.

Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal have become one of Europe’s most reliable sides at getting close. Close to the title. Close to a final. Close to convincing themselves, and everyone else, that they belong there.

But semi-finals have been a sticking point. Since lifting the FA Cup in August 2020, Arsenal have reached eight semi-finals across three competitions. They have not won one. Six defeats, two draws, two goals scored.

It has become an unwanted pattern for Arteta which is increasingly hard to ignore. Now is the time to course-correct it.

Arteta semi-final record

Since that FA Cup triumph, where Arteta beat both Manchester City and Chelsea with a counter-punching approach that now feels from another era, Arsenal’s semi-final results are as follows:

• 2021 Europa League: Villarreal
  Lost 2-1 away, drew 0-0 at home

• 2022 Carabao Cup: Liverpool
  Drew 0-0 away, lost 2-0 at home

• 2025 Carabao Cup: Newcastle United
  Lost 2-0 home, lost 2-0 away

• 2025 Champions League: Paris Saint-Germain
  Lost 1-0 home, lost 2-1 away

Eight games. Two goals. No wins.

The defeats have not all looked the same, but they have rhymed somewhat. Arsenal have often started well, created enough to stay alive, then drifted into games where the margins turned against them and never came back.

Why Arsenal struggle in the semi-final under Arteta

The obvious explanation has been finishing. There is evidence for it.

Against PSG last season, Arsenal missed early chances in both legs. Against Newcastle, they managed just six shots on target across 180 minutes, despite having 34 shots in total. Granted, against Liverpool in 2022, they barely laid a glove on Anfield’s return fixture.

This is where the Arteta semi-final record becomes less about systems and tactics and more about psychology.

Despite their clear rise and progress under the Spaniard, there’s a question mark over whether they can actually get over the line, and until they do – and actually win something tangible – it’s not going away.

Pep Guardiola has spoken about this phase of competition before, arguing that players can feel the pressure of being close to winning something. His Manchester City side had to lose repeatedly in the Champions League before learning how to win. Arteta was there for part of that process.

The difference is that City kept converting semi-finals into finals along the way. Arsenal have not, but the Carabao Cup presents an opportunity for Arteta to deliver silverware.

Arsenal striker problem

Arsenal’s response to their bluntness in front of goal was Viktor Gyokeres. £64 million spent on a striker meant to tilt these nights back in their favour.

Instead, Gyokeres has become another layer of scrutiny. He has failed to score from open play in his last nine Premier League appearances and has looked short of confidence when moments arrive quickly.

This does not mean the signing was necessarily wrong – he offers some things that Arsenal’s other strikers don’t. But it does mean the problem was not as simple as “add striker, score goals, fix semi-finals”.

The issue runs deeper, into how Arsenal handle pressure moments when the game is balanced and patience starts to feel like risk.

Is the Carabao Cup important?

Arteta worked with Jose Mourinho early in his playing career and, of course, has worked with Pep Guardiola – two managers who have argued the importance of the Carabao Cup.

Mourinho used it as momentum. Guardiola used it as belief. Both saw early-season silverware as a way to normalise winning and to make the players feel used to winning trophies.

Guardiola’s Manchester City won the Carabao Cup four times in a row from 2018. Arteta was his assistant for the first half of that run and has spoken openly about the value of those wins.

Get to the final. Finish the job. Let the squad feel what it’s like.

So far, Arsenal under Arteta have not done that often enough.

What Arsenal still lack

One quirk of Arteta’s semi-final record is that this Arsenal squad is not short of winners.

Declan Rice has a European medal. Gabriel Jesus has multiple league titles. Jurrien Timber, Piero Hincapie, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Mikel Merino, David Raya and Martin Zubimendi have all won honours elsewhere.

Bukayo Saka is the only player to have won a major trophy with Arsenal, and he didn’t play in the final in 2020.

So the experience of winning is there, somewhat. They just need to get over the line as a team – and win silverware together.

The Carabao Cup semi-final against Chelsea is another chance to reset the conversation around Arteta’s record at this stage. Arsenal injuries may force compromises in defence. The goalkeeper decision – Kepa or Raya – carries its own history and subtext.

It will be tight. It always is. And if Arsenal fall again, the question mark surrounding Arteta’s semi-final record will continue following this project until it is answered properly.

Get to finals often enough and eventually you have to learn how to win one. The problem for Arsenal is that they are still waiting for that lesson to stick.