Arsenal are out of the Carabao Cup after losing to Newcastle United and saw a key forward limp off the pitch.

Arsenal’s hopes of claiming the Carabao Cup are over. The Gunners’ wait for a piece of silverware continues as they were dumped out of the semi-finals of the competition by Newcastle United. Arsenal suffered a 2-0 defeat in the second leg at St James’ Park last night - meaning they lost 4-0 on aggregate.

It means that Mikel Arteta’s side remain in only two competitions, having also exited the FA Cup. They are still in the Premier League title race yet are very much underdogs to be crowned champions for the first time since 2004. Arsenal, who sit second, trail leaders Liverpool by six points, with Arne Slot’s side also having a game in hand.

Martinelli blow

And to compound their frustrations, the North London outfit lost Gabriel Martinelli to injury against Newcastle. The winger limped off in the 37th minute with a suspected hamstring issue. Martinelli will undergo a scan today. Gunners boss Arteta said: “He (Martinelli) felt something, I think it was his hamstring and he wasn’t comfortable to continue. So we will have to have an MRI scan tomorrow to see the extent of the injury.”

Arsenal already have key forward Bukayo Saka absent until next month with a hamstring issue while striker Gabriel Jesus is ruled out for the rest of the season after rupturing his ACL. The Gunners are short of attacking options and failed to add to their squad before the transfer window shut on Monday.

Slot’s approach

Liverpool head into their Carabao Cup semi-final second leg against Tottenham Hotspur tonight knowing that the winner will face Newcastle in the final at Wembley next month. The Reds trail Spurs 1-0 from the opening meeting in the capital last month.

Slot has insisted that his approach to the game will not change despite being a goal down. Speaking at his pre-match press conference, the Anfield head coach told reporters: “I don't think I have to prepare them differently than in any other game. Because from now until the end of the season, it's been already the whole season, and I think as long as Liverpool exists, if you play in this shirt, you need to win the game.

“That's for tomorrow, that's for Sunday, that's for Wednesday afterwards and the game after that. Even if we go 1-0 down in the league or whatever tournament we are in, we try and want to win the game. That's also what we tried in the away game against Tottenham – I think we were quite close to getting a result over there until the last few seconds, we were down to 10 and conceded a goal. Nothing changes for this game compared to others. If you wear this shirt, if you go out at Anfield, there is only one thing that is expected of you – and that's winning the game.”

Liverpool will be without Trent Alexander-Arnold against Tottenham as he recovers from a minor issue picked up in last weekend’s 2-0 win against AFC Bournemouth. Spurs, meanwhile, are set to be missing key centre-back duo Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero among a plethora of senior players.