Arsenal face Newcastle in the Carabao Cup semi-final – follow live

Eddie Howe has praised the extraordinary effort of Newcastle defender Sven Botman after he marked his eagerly-anticipated return with a strong display in a 2-1 win at Tottenham.

Fabian Schar’s suspension meant Botman was thrust into the Magpies line-up to make his first competitive appearance since March following anterior cruciate ligament damage.

Arsenal have scored 11 goals in their three League Cup matches this season, netting at least three each time. They’ve never scored 3+ goals in four consecutive games in the competition.

Mikel Arteta believes his players are learning to adapt to different situations and positions as he attempts to limit the negative affect of long-term injuries on his squad.

The Arsenal manager said: “We discussed the situation and the fact that we have to use players in positions that they probably haven’t played in before.

“We are learning a lot from that and what I learn especially is the willingness of the team; you speak to any individual and ask him to play anywhere on the field and they say: ‘I’m there’. That’s great as well to learn from your players.

“It’s a good learning process, not only tactically but also preparation and training with very few players. Today we had seven or eight players with us just to fill the squad which isn’t normal but it’s a weird way to learn, but I’ll take it.

“I cannot change it so let’s take the things that we can get out of it to be better.”

The Arsenal boss says that Newcastle’s in-form striker is a ‘top-player’ and that his team will attempt to minimise his impact this evening.

Arteta said: “He’s a top player in top form scoring a lot of goals and we try to minimise the strength of the opposition. That’s a big part of the plan when we’re playing any opponent.”

Arsenal XI: Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly; Rice, Partey, Odegaard; Martinelli, Havertz, Trossard

Newcastle XI: Dubravka; Livramento, Botman, Burn, Hall; Willock, Tonali, Joelinton; Murphy, Isak, Gordon.

Gunners boss Mikel Arteta and then Liverpool counterpart Jurgen Klopp were angered by Newcastle’s approach during that campaign, prompting Howe to say: “We are not here to be popular and to get other teams to like us. We are here to compete.”

Arsenal have progressed from three of their last five League Cup semi-final ties. However, they haven’t won the first leg in any of their last seven semi-finals in the competition.

Can Newcastle take advantage of that tonight?

Arsenal have won all four of their League Cup meetings with Newcastle, scoring 12 goals and conceding none. The last such match was a 4-0 win at St James’ Park in the 2010/11 fourth round.

Here’s Eddie Howe chatting about the fitness of Newcastle defender Sven Botman who has recently returned from injury:

“He feels good. Naturally, a little bit of fatigue at the end of the game [versus Spurs] but I think, with Sven, it was a long absence but he’s trained for a long, long time for this moment.

“After the Aston Villa game, he was cleared to play but we wanted to give him longer to try and reach his best physical levels. It is not like he has been rushed back. Straight into action, he did very well, (I was) really pleased with him and he handled the intensity well.”