Arsenal's Kepa Arrizabalaga eager for more League Cup heroics against Chelsea

Arsenal shot-stopper Kepa Arrizabalaga is excited about the chance to eliminate his previous team Chelsea from the League Cup, after his vital contribution in a penalty shootout triumph over Crystal Palace.

The Gunners progressed to the semi-finals on Tuesday when Kepa stopped Maxence Lacroix's penalty during a thrilling 8-7 shootout victory after a 1-1 stalemate with Palace at the Emirates Stadium.

Kepa played for the Blues over seven years prior to his summer switch to north London, and now he might block his former club from advancing to the season's initial major final.

Kepa, featuring in all three of his Arsenal outings thus far in the League Cup, commented: "Right now, if you want a trophy, and that's something that we want, we have to fight against good teams.

"Both semi-finals are big games, and it's going to be tough, but we'll prepare well for the game, and we'll be ready and we'll go for it."

Arsenal face Chelsea for a Wembley berth, starting with the initial leg at Stamford Bridge on January 14, followed by the second match at the Emirates on February 3.

The Gunners appeared headed for the semi-finals within normal playing time until Marc Guehi's late leveller, marking the third instance across Arsenal's previous five outings where the Premier League frontrunners' backline was pierced in or after the 90th minute.

"We've conceded in a couple of games in the last minute so it's something that we have to look at," said Kepa, standing in for Arsenal's primary goalkeeper David Raya.

The 31-year-old from Spain continued: "But we are in the next round and we're happy. We made a huge effort. We should have scored a couple in the first half. We played so well. Then the second half was more like 50-50."

"Credit to the guys, they took amazing penalties. They kept us in the game, and they gave me an opportunity to make a save.

"Emotionally, you have to be focused, be strong, because obviously when you concede in the last minute and then you have to go to penalties, you need to 100 percent be focused on your penalty takers, you need to save. So it was a change of mindset, and it worked."