Antoine Semenyo and Omar Marmoush played big roles in getting City into the final

London – When Manchester City step onto the Wembley turf for Sunday’s Carabao Cup final against Arsenal, the stakes will be towering. A first trophy in almost two years is on the line, and Pep Guardiola’s side know that defeat would deepen the gloom created by their mid-week Champions League elimination at the hands of Real Madrid and a Premier League title race that is slipping away. Yet within the City camp there is a quiet confidence, fuelled in part by two names that have steadily risen in prominence this season: Antoine Semenyo and Omar Marmoush.

Neither player arrived with the fanfare of a nine-figure transfer, but both have become pivotal to City’s domestic-cup surge. Semenyo, the powerful right-sided attacker, is expected to rejoin the starting XI after being rested in mid-week, and teammates speak of a player “hungry to end his personal silverware drought.” The 24-year-old has yet to lift a major honour in his professional career; colleagues believe that statistic has sharpened his training-ground edge and turned him into one of the dressing-room’s most vocal leaders ahead of the final.

Marmoush, the versatile German-Egyptian forward, has operated both through the middle and in wider areas during City’s League Cup run, scoring decisive goals in the quarter- and semi-finals. Guardiola has lauded the 25-year-old’s “fearless pressing” and ability to stretch back lines, traits that forced the manager to juggle his front line to keep the former Wolfsburg man involved. While Erling Haaland is set to spearhead the attack, club sources say Marmoush’s recent performances guarantee him a prominent role off the bench – if not a shock start – as City look to exploit an Arsenal defence that can be caught on the transition.

Their influence has been felt beyond mere goals. Semenyo’s direct running has drawn fouls in dangerous areas, while Marmoush’s relentless work-rate has allowed Guardiola to deploy a more aggressive high press than in previous rounds. Together they have offered energy at a time when City’s campaign has flirted with entropy.

Guardiola confirmed on Friday that deputy goalkeeper James Trafford will retain his cup role, with Gianluigi Donnarumma consigned to the bench. Further changes are expected: Marc Guéhi is poised to partner Rúben Dias at centre-half, Nico O’Reilly is likely to join Rodri in the double pivot, and Rayan Aït-Nouri will resume his unenviable task of trying to shackle Bukayo Saka. Yet it is the continued emergence of Semenyo and Marmoush that has given the squad a timely jolt of belief.

City trail Liverpool by one trophy in the competition’s all-time standings; victory on Sunday would narrow that gap to a single title and, perhaps more importantly, restore conviction ahead of a season-defining sprint through April and May. For Semenyo and Marmoush, the final represents a chance to repay the faith shown in them and, in the process, carve their own place in the club’s ever-expanding honours board.

History says City know how to handle these occasions. Eight of the current squad already own a League Cup winners’ medal, and Dias, Bernardo Silva and Rodri have each lifted trophies beneath the iconic Wembley arch. But football is rarely kind to teams living on past glories. Guardiola understands that new heroes must emerge; on Sunday he will look to two of his most in-form forwards to answer the call.

Antoine Semenyo and Omar Marmoush have already propelled City to the brink of glory. Now they have 90 minutes – maybe more – to finish the job and spark a late-season resurgence.