Key events
3 min: Livramento wedges a long pass down the inside-right channel for Isak, who reaches the box before cutting back for Joelinton. The ball bobbles, and Joelinton shins his first-time swing miles over the bar. The move an early positive sign for the Toon, though.
2 min: A fairly scrappy, nondescript start. Onwards and upwards, we’ve got 178 minutes plus stoppages still to go.
Newcastle get the ball rolling. The Emirates in fine voice. Roar!
The teams are out! Arsenal in red and white, Newcastle black and white, just as little John Lennon had it. A banging atmosphere at the Emirates, as befits the first leg of a major semi-final. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes. In the meantime, here’s Justin Kavanagh: “Mark Chapman gets the ball rolling by calling Arteta an arsehole on air; what a shame that David Coote isn’t one of tonight’s miked-up refs to tell us what he really thinks about Arteta and Howe’s sideline criticisms. Now that really would add value.”
Pre-match postbag. “The Arsenal team looking back up to decent strength – but never mind that; Arsenal fans just want to enjoy the feeling of the cockles of their heart being warmed by the idea of the much-loved Tomas Rosicky coming back to the club. We had a (mostly) beautiful 10 years’ worth of him, swooning at the quality of his play, commiserating with him over his many injuries, and generally thinking him a good egg. I dunno whether you actually want a good egg as sporting director, and not some steely-eyed, unsentimental flint-heart, but if there’s a choice, I know which I’d go for” – Charles Antaki
“Unfortunately I’ve done myself a solid and smashed my thumbnail trying to close a window. At one point it looked like my MBM contribution would be in serious jeopardy. I managed to recover by consuming some ‘inspiring’ interviews with English football’s hard men of yesteryear: Mick Harford, Martin Keown, Jean Alain Boumsong, Pascal Cygan. Keown in particular seemed to spend a considerable time punching people in the formative years of his career. But he was well spoken and it showed that I could rise above the pain. My question is this: would you prefer to watch Havertz v Botman tonight, or Harford v Keown? I know my answer” – Chris Paraskevas
“God forbid I sound cynical, but afaict the best outcome of this is that eg at least some hilariously self-satisfied incompetence of the form ‘good process boys’ will get the immediate reaction it deserves from the crowd. Which, uh, maybe I’m on board actually” – James Humphries
Oh Chappers, how could you! Over an hour before the watershed as well.
Mikel Arteta speaks to Sky. “It is great to have Kai Havertz back … big occasion, big game … looking forward to it … Newcastle have threats from various ways … like every team in the Premier League, very difficult … it was a very competitive match [at St James’ Park] and we didn’t deserve to lose it … another opportunity today.”
Eddie Howe, who is taking charge of Newcastle for the 150th time tonight, speaks to Sky Sports. “Joe Willock’s running capacity is his biggest strength … a brilliant athlete who will help us in and out of possession … he’s good technically as well … he’ll add a different dimension to our midfield … we can’t play the same [without Bruno Guimaraes] … a tactical tweak … only Bruno can do what Bruno can do … we have to find a different way … it’s whether the team can adjust but I think we can.”
VAR hasn’t been used in any of the previous rounds, but it’s back for the semi-finals and final, baby! Did you miss it? No, us neither. There’s a fancy new feature being rolled out tonight, too: should VAR have to intervene at any point, the on-field referee will announce and explain the decision to the crowd, over the mic, NFL-style. “We feel it will add some value,” insists PGMOL chief Howard Webb, which may or may not indicate how this caper is going to pan out, depending on your point of view / level of cynicism / recall of previous decisions, explanations, big ideas, etc.
Arsenal make five changes to their starting XI after the 1-1 draw at Brighton. Martin Ødegaard, Jurriën Timber, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Gabriel Martinelli and Kai Havertz all return; Riccardo Calafiori, Jorginho, Mikel Merino and Gabriel Jesus drop to the bench, while Ethan Nwaneri is injured.
Newcastle also name a strong team, making just one change to the side that started the 2-1 win at Spurs, an enforced one at that. Joe Willock replaces the suspended captain Bruno Guimarães.
The teams
Arsenal: Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly, Odegaard, Partey, Rice, Martinelli, Havertz, Trossard.
Subs: Porter, Zinchenko, Tierney, Calafiori, Kiwior, Jorginho, Merino, Jesus, Sterling.
Newcastle United: Dubravka, Livramento, Botman, Burn, Hall, Willock, Tonali, Joelinton, Jacob Murphy, Isak, Gordon.
Subs: Vlachodimos, Trippier, Barnes, Targett, Osula, Almiron, Kelly, Longstaff, Miley.
Referee: Craig Pawson (South Yorkshire).
Preamble
It’s the latest staging of the Walls and Bridges derby! Whatever gets you through the night, s’alright.
A lot has happened between Newcastle and Arsenal since young Winston O’Boogie illustrated their meeting in the 1952 FA Cup final. George Eastham, Marc Overmars and Nicolas Anelka, Cheik Tioté, all that. So let’s just fast forward to last November …
… when yes, we did use this exact same riff in the preamble. But the result of that game turned out to be exactly the same as the previous season’s fixture, so there’s an element of life imitating art here. However, while those two matches paint Newcastle in a favourable light, there’s also the small matter of the resounding 4-1 win for Arsenal at the Emirates last February to consider, so both sides have something positive to cling onto going into this two-legged semi-final. It’s set up deliciously then, and both teams are in canny fettle to boot: the Gunners are 13 matches unbeaten in all competitions, while the Toon are currently riding a six-win wave. Should be a cracker! Here’s hoping. Kick-off is at 8pm GMT. It’s on!
