It’s morning everyone.
Tonight is a big night as we host the first leg of our Carabao Cup semi-final against Newcastle. I know this is the lowest ranking competition for most people. But once you get to this stage, with the final just around the corner, you have to take it seriously. That’s why I think Mikel Arteta could be a little stronger in this game than he was in Sunday’s FA Cup tie against Manchester United, if fitness and availability allow.
That said, given all the health issues we have, I don’t see much room for pivoting anyway. The manager confirmed Ethan Nwaneri will be out for ‘several weeks’ after picking up a muscle problem against Brighton on Saturday, with the illness affecting the likes of Kai Havertz, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Martinelli in camp. It’s still a problem.
Even if Havertz is fit enough to be included in the squad, I don’t think it’s realistic to think he’ll be back to 100% and capable of starting. There may also be question marks over Odegaard, who looked like he might have to stay in bed against Brighton, but hopefully he will be fit enough to lead the team. Assuming there are no other casualties, we could see a team like Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, LB*, Partey*, Rice, Odegaard, Trossard, Jesus, and Martinelli.
The reason for putting an asterisk on left-back is because Arteta may be cautious about Ricardo Calafiori, who has just returned from injury for two games in a row. If he feels the need for a change, he could start Myles Lewis-Skelly or Oleksandr Zinchenko (I prefer the former over the latter). I think there are also questions about how much can be asked of Partey, who has spent a lot of time this season and spent 90 minutes at right-back on Saturday. If you need to be careful about his stamina, there is room to give him a break.
Other than that, the injury crisis leaves them with little to work with. Arteta has had to bring in young players to fill out the squad for training and says he must feel really disappointed about the absences in private but is putting on a brave face in public. You can’t sit in a press conference before a big game and cry about an injury. He says:
This is a good learning process, not only tactically, but also preparing and training with very few players. Today we went with 7 or 8 players to fill out the squad. This is out of the ordinary, it’s a strange way to learn, but I’ll accept it. I can’t change that, so let’s take better what we can get.
As for tonight’s opposition, there’s some recent history that could make this palatable. Arteta has dismissed the idea of ​​a rivalry with Newcastle, but there is often an intensity to these games that can spark an incident. More often than not, games at St James’ Park have the upper hand, but after 70 years without a trophy, they will be absolutely ecstatic for this game and in the midst of a game that is currently quite depleted and busy. We also know that they have a very physical style, and we have to keep that in mind as they often shy away from challenges we definitely wouldn’t take.
Let’s hope the crowd can do their part tonight. Make it clear to the referee when behind the team Newcastle will almost certainly push the boundary. Arteta says:
We are very excited to play in front of a crowd. The semi-finals, a chance to qualify for the finals, begin tomorrow with two legs. Obviously they will have two long games against very competitive teams. We know it, but we are very excited and we need a big, big atmosphere in our stadium.
The fact that the semi-finals are two legs is ridiculous at this point, it should only be one game, but hopefully they can get a good result tonight ahead of the game at their venue next month. There is a chance to put things right if things don’t go as planned, but with two big cup ties this week it would be nice to win this one before considering the FA Cup on Sunday. Fingers crossed.
Okay, I’ll leave it there for now. A preview podcast is currently available on Patreon. Later you can join in on the live blog coverage and get match reports, goal clips, reactions, player ratings and more from Arseblog News.
Until then!
