Bidding to make North London lightning strike twice in the space of four days, Newcastle United stop over at the Emirates on Tuesday evening to battle Arsenal in the first leg of their EFL Cup semi-final.
While the Gunners could only take a point home from a 1-1 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday evening, Eddie Howe's men left Tottenham Hotspur's turf with a 2-1 success to their name.
Match preview
Arsenal headers in opposition boxes have proven to be devastating all season long, but the Gunners were left to rue a bizarre heading incident in their own box at the Amex Stadium, where Brighton put the latest dent in their faltering Premier League title bid.
Following a first-half opener from 17-year-old phenom Ethan Nwaneri - who wrote a new chapter of Arsenal history in the process - William Saliba was penalised for a 'headbutt' on Brighton forward Joao Pedro, who subsequently sent David Raya the wrong way from the penalty spot.
While Arteta and Fabian Hurzeler unsurprisingly had differing views on the penalty incident, both camps should have been in agreement that Brighton looked the more likely to score again as the second half wore on, and the Gunners could soon find themselves 11 points behind Liverpool if the Reds win their two outstanding matches.
As dampening as Saturday's draw was, the stalemate can be spun in a slightly positive way, as the Gunners are now unbeaten in 13 consecutive matches across all competitions - a run that includes their Gabriel Jesus-inspired 3-2 success over Crystal Palace in the last round of the EFL Cup.
Still chasing a first League Cup honour since 1993, the Gunners are yet to lose a single home game in any competition this season and have progressed to the final from two of their last three EFL Cup semis, although that one loss came in their most recent two-legged battle with Liverpool in 2021-22.
While Arsenal's haul of success in the League Cup is very modest indeed, Newcastle are yet to conquer the competition and are on the cusp of going 70 years without a major honour, unless the 2005-06 Intertoto Cup is regarded as a significant trophy.
It has not been for the want of trying from Howe's troops since their big-money takeover - they fell to Manchester United's superiority in the 2022-23 final of this tournament - but the time is surely nigh for the Magpies to mark this new era with a shiny piece of silverware.
Howe's crop have had to battle their way past three Premier League teams to make it this far, eliminating Nottingham Forest, Brentford and Chelsea in addition to AFC Wimbledon, and Tuesday's visitors could hardly be making a swift return to North London with a bigger spring in their step.
Indeed, strikes from Anthony Gordon and Alexander Isak propelled the Champions League hopefuls to a 2-1 win at Spurs on Saturday lunchtime, their sixth success on the bounce in all competitions and one that saw them score at least twice for the eighth game in a row.
Haunting North London teams has quickly become a favourite pastime of Newcastle's, as the Magpies also bested Arsenal 1-0 in their first Premier League game of the season at St James' Park, but not since 2010 have they rocked up to the Emirates and left as the victors.
Team News
There was little concern when Arteta substituted goalscorer Nwaneri at half time in the Brighton draw - many assumed that it was a consequence of his late booking for time-wasting - but the Arsenal boss then confirmed the "really bad" news at full time that the 17-year-old had suffered a muscular injury.
Nwaneri has not been ruled out of the first leg just yet, but the tight turnaround makes him a serious doubt, while Kai Havertz is also facing a race against time to prove his fitness after missing back-to-back games through illness.
Bukayo Saka (hamstring), Raheem Sterling (knee), Ben White (knee) and Takehiro Tomiyasu (knee) are still missing, although Sterling could be available for the weekend's FA Cup opener with Manchester United, and Jurrien Timber is back from a yellow-card ban.
As a key Arsenal man returns from suspension, Newcastle must make do without two of their crucial cogs for the first leg, as Fabian Schar and Bruno Guimaraes are serving competition-specific bans for picking up their second yellow cards of the EFL Cup season in the Brentford win.
Schar and Guimaraes - the former of whom also served a Premier League ban at the weekend - join Emil Krafth (shoulder), Nick Pope (knee), Callum Wilson (thigh) and Jamaal Lascelles (knee) on the absentee list, but Sven Botman's enforced substitution in the Spurs win is only thought to have been down to cramp.
However, it would be a surprise to see the Dutchman make successive starts so soon after his return from an ACL injury, so Lloyd Kelly might fill the Schar void here, while Sean Longstaff and former Gunner Joe Willock will battle to step in for Guimaraes.
Arsenal possible starting lineup:
Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly; Odegaard, Partey, Rice; Martinelli, Jesus, Trossard
Newcastle United possible starting lineup:
Dubravka; Trippier, Kelly, Burn, Hall; Longstaff, Tonali, Joelinton; Murphy, Isak, Gordon
We say: Arsenal 1-1 Newcastle United
Newcastle setting up at the Emirates to defend has worked before - see the 0-0 draw in January 2023 - and Howe may be tempted to adopt a more conservative approach with both Schar and the influential Guimaraes helplessly watching on.
The goal-happy Magpies should not stick every man behind the ball while their attacking trio is in such scintillating form, but Arsenal are seldom outfought at the Emirates and are still finding routes to goal even in Saka's absence.
Taking all of that into account, the first leg surely has a low-scoring draw written all over it, undoubtedly a better result for the Magpies before the return fixture at St James' Park on February 5.
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