Mikel Arteta reacts to Arsenal’s League Cup semi-final draw | OneFootball

Mikel Arteta has admitted it won’t be easy to beat Newcastle United in the League Cup semi-finals, but he added that Arsenal were prepared for a tough draw.

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Arsenal’s midweek win over Crystal Palace in the League Cup earned them a spot in the semi-finals, the Gunners’ second appearance at this stage of the competition under Mikel Arteta.

The draw was conducted on Thursday, with Arsenal receiving a tie against Newcastle United. Tottenham Hotspur play Liverpool in the other two-legged fixture.

Reacting to that draw, Arteta seemed enthusiastic, whilst also acknowledging that it was never going to be an easy draw.

“Let’s play them!” Arteta began. “It will be two very difficult games. We know that the four teams that are involved in the semi-finals are at the highest level, so we knew that whoever we got in the draw the difficulty was going to be there.”

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As mentioned, this is just the second time an Arteta Arsenal team has made it this far in the League Cup, and he’ll be hoping for his first final appearance on the fifth attempt.

Arteta joined after Arsenal had already been eliminated from the competition in 2019/20, and the Gunners were then knocked out in the quarter-finals (by Manchester City), semi-finals (by Liverpool), round three (by Brighton), and round four (by West Ham) in the following four seasons.

Even before Arteta, it was a long time since Arsenal had last won the competition. The last time was in 1992/93 under George Graham.

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As for how the fixtures will fit into the calendar, the first leg will be played at the Emirates Stadium in early January, in between Arsenal’s Premier League clash away to Brighton on Saturday, January 4th and the FA Cup game at home to Manchester United on Sunday, January 12th.

The away leg will then take place in the midweek after Arsenal’s Premier League matches at home to Manchester City on Sunday, February 2nd.

The following game will depend on whether the Gunners can make the fourth round of the FA Cup, which is scheduled for the weekend of Saturday, February 8th.