Newcastle vs Arsenal: Carabao Cup team news, predicted lineups and injuries
The Gunners trail 2-0 from the first leg.
Arsenal have it all to do as they take on Newcastle United in the second-leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final at St James’ Park.
The Gunners slumped to a 2-0 defeat in the first leg meeting at the Emirates in early January but the form book makes for very different reading this week.
After a superb run over Christmas and New Year, Eddie Howe’s side have been brought back down to earth after back-to-back defeats in consecutive home games against Bournemouth and Fulham.
Arsenal dropped points against Brighton and Aston Villa in fixtures around that first leg defeat and were also dumped out of the FA Cup five days later.
But that thumping victory over Manchester City on Sunday has Mikel Arteta’s side flying again.
While Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus remain sidelined, the Arsenal squad is in reasonably good shape.
Mikel Merino and Martin Odegaard missed the win over Wolves last week but both featured in wins over Girona and City with David Raya also shaking off a knock to return on Sunday.
Ben White meanwhile has been sidelined since undergoing minor surgery in November. The defender has been back in training with Arteta hoping to can return to the side before the end of the month.
Arsenal did not bolster their squad on transfer deadline day despite late interest in Mathys Tel and Alvaro Morata.
It means Kai Havertz remains their sole option up front with the German among those on the score sheet on Sunday.
Arteta will surely be tempted to hand Ethan Nwaneri another start. Having bagged two in his last two appearances, the teenager has started every game in the competition so far this season with the exception of the first leg where he was ruled out through injury.
Newcastle meanwhile could be without midfielder Joelinton.
The Brazilian was forced off during Saturday’s defeat to Fulham and was later spotted wearing a knee brace as a precautionary measure.
Predicted Arsenal XI to face Newcastle
Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly, Odegaard, Partey, Rice, Martinelli, Havertz, Nwaneri
Predicted Newcastle XI to face Arsenal
Dubravka, Livramento, Schar, Burn, Hall, Guimaraes, Tonali, Miley, Murphy, Isak, Gordon
Where to watch Man Utd vs Tottenham? Kick-off time and TV channel
Newcastle vs Arsenal kicks off at 8pm on Wednesday 5 February.
Live coverage is available on Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Main Event, with a live stream available on the Sky Go app and NOW TV.
