Arsenal Carabao Cup blow as Newcastle United confirm 'incredible' injury news ahead of Spurs

Arsenal welcome an impressive Newcastle United defence to the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday evening in Carabao Cup action and the Magpies will visit London buoyed by injury news this weekend.

Ahead of facing Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday afternoon, Eddie Howe’s side have kept four clean sheets in a row in the Premier League. Wins have come over Manchester United, Aston Villa, Ipswich Town and Leicester City since mid December with the club now fifth in the league.

That defensive solidity has come without first team star Sven Botman too. The 24-year-old suffered a serious ACL injury in March in FA Cup action against Manchester City and was a huge miss as the Magpies endured some rocky form to start the season.

Eddie Howe welcomes back defender ahead of Arsenal midweek clash

The Dutchman now returns to the Newcastle United starting XI to make an already intimidating Magpies defence even stronger ahead of facing Spurs at the weekend and then Arsenal in mid week. Speaking ahead of this weekend’s league action, Howe said: “You go through a process with the type of injury Sven’s had, he’s done an incredible amount of work - it’s not like he’s not had that training time with us.

“We’ve taken longer than maybe normally we would have done through respect for the injury he had to try and make sure he had the best chance of staying fit and when he comes back he’s able to hit the ground running, which is absolutely. So I’ve got a decision to make in terms of the team selection but if Sven is in the squad it’s because he is fit and available.”

The Gunners had appeared to be handed a boost in their hopes of getting the better of an in form Newcastle United side with Fabian Schar suspended for the Carabao Cup clash, but his absence is now largely negated by the return of Botman.

Botman arrived at St James’ Park in June 2022 for £35 million from Lille and has impressed in his 66 appearances for the club since then. He’s played Arsenal three times, drawing two and losing one - he has been injured for two other matches against the Gunners since joining Newcastle United.

Botman to help Newcastle United forwards thrive

Upon making his first appearances for Newcastle United, Botman was praised by former Premier League star and pundit Leon Osman. The ex Everton man explained how his defensive ability helped the Magpies thrive going forward.

He said: “You say the team are effective at the top end of the field. One of the reasons is because he’s so trustworthy defensively.

“They don’t need to over cover him, they don’t need to have two or three players around him. They can release them forward – they can release them to press, knowing that he can deal with near enough any situation coming.

“I’ve been hugely impressed with his start in a Newcastle shirt. We spoke about Jesus at the start of the show and we said about the impact he’s had one the team – that’s exactly what Sven Botman has had. He’s had an incredible impact on the team and I can see that continuing.”