Carabao Cup: Which players are injured as Newcastle and Arsenal clash tonight and Liverpool play Spurs
Mikel Arteta may rue not having signed a striker ahead of tonight’s Carabao Cup semi-final clash.
Arteta had made clear his desire to bring in a new forward after Gabriel Jesus was ruled out for the remainder of the season through injury.
The title-chasing Gunners had been heavily linked with Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins but no deal materialised before Monday’s deadline, leaving Kai Havertz as their sole recognised senior striker.
“We had a clear intention to explore the opportunities to improve our squad with players that can impact it,” said Arteta. “We haven’t achieved that so we are disappointed in that sense.
“We’re going to have to be very flexible with the front line. It’s not a gamble, it’s reality and we have to face the reality. I am not worried. Now I focus on the numbers that we have, how to maximise them, how to make the best out of them.”
Tonight (February 5) the Gunners go up against Newcastle in the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final, with the Magpies up 2-0 on aggregate. Arsenal are also without Bukayo Saka, who is still recovering from a major hamstring injury, as well as defenders Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu.
For Newcastle, Joelinton is a doubt after picking up a knock against Fulham last weekend, while in attack Harvey Barnes and Callum Wilson are both sidelined.
Facing the winner of this match in the final will be either Liverpool or Tottenham, who play tomorrow (February 6). The Premier League leaders will be without Trent Alexander-Arnold, although his injury is not as bad as first feared.
Manager Arne Slot has confirmed the Englishman will miss out on tomorrow’s fixture, with Conor Bradley expected to deputise at right-back. Joe Gomez is also a doubt, although he has struggled for minutes this season anyway. Aside from that, Liverpool have a full-strength squad.
As for Tottenham, they will be without goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, defenders Destiny Udogie, Cristian Romero and Radu Dragusin, midfielder James Maddison, and upfront Brennan Johnson, Timo Werner and Dominic Solanke.
Late transfer window signings Mathys Tel and Kevin Danso are both available for selection.