The 12 players who could miss Arsenal v Newcastle United amid injury woes, illness concerns & suspension blow
Arsenal and Newcastle United are both dealing with injury problems ahead of tonight’s clash at the Emirates
Arsenal welcome Newcastle United to the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday night aiming to put one foot in the Carabao Cup final. With the first leg of the semi-final on home soil, the Gunners will be keen to take an advantage to the north east for the return clash next month.
The North London side have not lost to Newcastle at home since the 2010-11 season and have emerged victorious in 11 of their last 13 games - that number jumps to 12 when you include an extra time victory in an FA Cup meeting a few years ago.
“We’re very excited to play the game in front of our crowd. A semi-final, an opportunity to earn the right to be in a final and that starts tomorrow with two legs. Obviously they’re going to be two long games against a very competitive team, we know that, but very excited and we need a big, big atmosphere in our stadium,” said Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta.
“We are in all the competitions; we are where we want to be in most of them. Obviously, in the league for a lot of circumstances, we are not where we want to be which is top, I understand that. That willingness to be better every single day to try to improve and not look for excuses because in anything that you do, you look for excuses, you are going to find them. These are challenges, these are situations that we are facing, and we are trying to do the very best to overcome them and still be a really good team.”
Arsenal injury news
The Gunners have been dealt a fresh blow in recent days with Ethan Nwaneri picking up an injury in their 1-1 draw at Brighton and Hove Albion. Arteta said on Monday that the young forward would be out for a “few weeks” due to a muscle injury. Kai Havertz has missed the last two games with illness and it is unclear if he will be available. Arteta said: “I hope so but I don’t want to say yes because last time I said I thought he was going to be fit and he wasn’t fit.”
Bukayo Saka remains out after picking up an injury in the victory against Crystal Palace while Ben White is still “a few weeks away” from returning. Raheem Sterling is “starting to do some stuff on the pitch” but is not expected to be up for selection until next week. Takehiro Tomiyasu is also back on the grass but is not close to a return as things stand. Arteta was also asked if there was issues with illness and simply replied “yes” but added his hope that no other players would miss out.
Newcastle injury news
Nick Pope, Jamaal Lascelles, Emil Krafth and Callum Wilson are long-term injury concerns for Newcastle and none of them are expected to return against Arsebak. The Magpies are assessing an injury to influential winger Anthony Gordon. The England international suffered a nasty knock in the Premier League clash against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday. Gordon was taken out by Spurs man Dejan Kulusekvski with the opposition player's shoulder causing damage to his face.
Eddie Howe said: "Anthony was in a bit of discomfort with the cut which was a nasty looking one. He performed really well for us I thought he had a really good game – we will see how he is today. Looking back at the decision, I thought it was a foul, a clear penalty. He came away from the incident with blood on himself. We dusted him down, he went back on the pitch and performed really well for us, I thought he had a really good game."
Newcastle will also be without key midfielder Bruno Guimaraes due to suspension. Howe added: "It's a big blow. One of Bruno's biggest strengths is he is always there for you. His record has been brilliant for us especially when you consider the physical exertion that he commits to every game. His training is very good and he's been exceptional in every way so to lose him, and he's a pivotal figure for us, is going to be a big miss but we have good players that can fill his shoes as well so, whoever I choose in that position, I have a lot of quality players."