Arsenal FC head to Newcastle United on Wednesday for the second of their two-legged League Cup semifinal tie. While Mikel Arteta and his men will indeed play to win, we just don’t think they’ll go over-the-top all out in doing so. The Gunners are the only team that has a realistic chance of catching Liverpool at the top of the Premier League table, and after competing for the league title the past two seasons, but ultimately falling short, they’ll be locked in on trying to finally close that deal this season.
Not to mention they’re through to the UEFA Champions League next round, as auto-qualifiers, and thus, they can skip the playoff round of continental competition.
Arsenal FC at Newcastle United FYIs
Competition: EFL Cup Semifinal, Leg 2/2, Newcastle leads 2-0 on aggregate
Kick: Wed. Feb. 5, 8pm, St. James Park, Newcastle, UK
Team News: Arsenal Newcastle United
Starting XI Predictions: Arsenal Newcastle United
How They Got Here:
Arsenal- Quarterfinals: Crystal Palace 3-2, Round of 16: Preston 3-0, Third Round: Bolton 5-1
Newcastle United- Quarterfinals: Brentford 3-1, Round of 16: Chelsea 32-0, Third Round: AFC Wimbledon 1-0 Second Round: Nottm Forest 1-1 (4-3 penalties)
However, the league is what they really want, and they’ll go all in on that. Declan Rice said it best yesterday: “Liverpool, credit to them, they’ve been really, really good so far, they’ve got top players and it’s down to us to hunt them.
“They’ve got themselves in this position, so respect to them, but we obviously know the goal we want and that’s to hunt them down and to win the Premier League. That’s what we want to do. There’s still a long way to go, there’s still so many games to play, but we need to stay positive and keep taking each game as it comes. I’m sure we’ll be fine.”
In other words, expect some squad rotation here. Not a weakened side but any means, but a bit of rest for some of the starters.
Arsenal FC Starting XI Prediction at Newcastle (EFL Cup Semifinals)
Neto; Thomas Partey, Jakub Kiwior, Gabriel Magalhaes, Riccardo Calafiori; Martin Odegaard, Mikel Merino, Declan Rice; Ethan Nwaneri, Gabriel Martinelli, Raheem Sterling
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America and RG. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.