Arsenal’s Trophy Drought Faces Ipswich Test at Portman Road

LONDON — Arsenal visits Ipswich Town at Portman Road on Tuesday for the third round of the Football League Cup, looking to maintain an unbeaten multi-competition start and pursue a domestic trophy it has not won for more than three decades.

The EFL Cup, also known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship purposes, has become Arsenal’s longest active domestic trophy drought. The club last won it in 1993, beating Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 in the final at Wembley Stadium. Arsenal’s first title in the competition came in 1987, when it defeated Liverpool 2-1.

Arsenal has won eight of its last 11 matches in the competition, despite reaching the EFL Cup final last season and losing to Manchester City. During the 2024-25 campaign, Newcastle United eliminated the club in the semi-finals.

Mikel Arteta’s squad arrives in Suffolk after a 2-0 Premier League win over Sunderland. That result followed a 1-0 away victory against Napoli in the UEFA Champions League group stage, while Arsenal has also opened its domestic league campaign with four consecutive wins. The team remains undefeated in all competitive fixtures this season.

Bukayo Saka scored a penalty in second-half stoppage time against Sunderland, his third goal of the season. The Arsenal winger’s strike was his 84th goal for the club, matching former French international Robert Pires on the all-time scoring list. Pires scored 84 times in 284 appearances between 2000 and 2006 and won two Premier League titles and two FA Cups.

Ipswich, managed by Gary O’Neil, has taken six points from its opening four fixtures since returning to the Premier League. Forward Jack Clarke helped secure a victory over Sunderland earlier in the campaign.

The club’s home form has made Portman Road a difficult venue. Ipswich has suffered only one home defeat across all competitions since losing to Charlton Athletic in the Championship on Oct. 21, 2025. That one setback came against Liverpool; outside it, Town has recorded 14 victories and six draws on home turf.

Ipswich’s record in the EFL Cup is less consistent. It has progressed beyond the second round only once in its last 10 campaigns, reaching the fourth round in 2022-23 before losing 3-1 at home to Fulham.

The deepest Ipswich has gone in the competition was the 2010-11 semi-finals. The club beat Arsenal 1-0 in the first leg at Portman Road, but Arsenal advanced after winning the return leg 3-0 at the Emirates Stadium.

Across all competitions, Arsenal leads the historical head-to-head series with 32 wins, 18 losses, and 11 draws. Ian Wright is the leading scorer in matches between the clubs, with nine goals against Ipswich during his North London career.

Wright scored 185 goals for Arsenal between 1991 and 1998 and held the club’s all-time scoring record until Thierry Henry surpassed him in 2005. In League Cup meetings, however, the teams are level: since their first encounter in the 1970-71 tournament, each club has won twice and they have drawn once.

Ipswich’s 1-0 semi-final first-leg victory in 2011 remains its only win or draw against Arsenal in the clubs’ last seven meetings in all competitions. Arsenal has won the other six by an aggregate score of 13-0.

At Portman Road this century, Ipswich has one win, one draw, and two losses against Arsenal. The latest meeting in Suffolk came in the 2024-25 Premier League season, when Arsenal won 4-0 away.

The third-round fixture starts at 20:00 BST on Tuesday, equivalent to 15:00 ET and 12:00 PT. Tournament rules send a match tied after 90 minutes directly to a penalty shootout, with no extra time.

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