Eddie Howe must make one major change to his Newcastle United team against Arsenal in the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg.
The Magpies travel to the Emirates on Tuesday night, as they aim to put one foot in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley in March.
However, they will be without Bruno Guimaraes for the first leg against Arsenal. That is because the Brazil international is suspended.
The same goes for Fabian Schar, who also missed Newcastle’s win over Tottenham due to suspension.
Eddie Howe has selection dilemmas to ponder, and this is Geordie Boot Boys’ predicted Newcastle United XI to face Arsenal.
Centre-back problem for Newcastle
With Schar suspended, Sven Botman made his Newcastle return on Saturday against Tottenham.
It was great to see him back, and Eddie Howe was delighted with Botman’s performance.
However, it would be a surprise if the 24-year-old started another huge game just a few days later after making his first appearance since March 2024.
With that in mind, Lloyd Kelly could come in to replace him and play alongside Dan Burn.
We are also predicting Kieran Trippier to rotate with Tino Livramento at right-back for the semi-final first leg. The £32million man did well against Spurs, but Newcastle could do with Trippier’s experience at this stage of the competition – especially away from home.
Who could replace Bruno Guimaraes?
There are three contenders to replace Bruno Guimaraes against Arsenal on Tuesday night.
It will either be Joe Willock or Sean Longstaff, but Eddie Howe also has the option of bringing Lewis Miley into the side. However, it would be a surprise if his first start of the season was a League Cup semi-final.
If I was a betting man, I would predict that Longstaff will be chosen ahead of Willock. He offers a bit more solidity, while Willock is better suited to being a game-changer off the bench.
Fresh chance to Alexander Isak to silence Arsenal
The likes of Paul Merson are desperate for Arsenal to sign Alexander Isak, even though the Gunners would not be able to afford him.
The media circus surrounding Isak and his Toon future is laughable, and this game at the Emirates is a chance for him to silence the noise.
He has already done that this season, with Isak scoring the only goal of the game as Newcastle beat Arsenal at St James’ Park.
This will be much harder, as the Magpies have a terrible record at the Emirates. Since it replaced Highbury as Arsenal’s home ground, Newcastle have only won one game there. That was in 2010 when Chris Hughton was in charge.
Predicted XI vs Arsenal: Dubravka; Trippier, Burn, Kelly, Hall; Longstaff, Tonali, Joelinton; Murphy, Isak, Gordon.
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