There are three clubs which didn‘t bring any players in the recently closed January transfer window. And those are not small clubs. We are talking about league leaders Liverpool, second placed Arsenal and sixth-placed Newcastle. The Reds in fact don‘t need any new recruits, mainly due to the fact that the squad is balanced and above all, without any long-term injured players. Thing will change dramatically in June, but for now it‘s all good. On the other hand, the Gunners do need men. We are not talking about buying players just because of injuries, and they did have them. Martin Odegaard and Riccardo Calafiori missed 12 games each, Mikel Merino eight, while Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus are still sidelined. But even if they all come back, the Gunners need gun powder which is in this case a proper striker. And Arteta again failed to address this issue. But the worst of them all is Newcastle.Who did Arsenal bring and why no one?On paper, the richest club in the world has now left behind no less than three transfer windows without signing a proper player who can challenge the first 11. It‘s simple, the Magpies are aware of PSR rule and don‘t want to be deducted of points. In fact, the reason why they are even worse than, let‘s say Arsenal is the fact that when don‘t have such a quality team beyond the best 11. And on top of that, they sold two bench players (Miguel Almiron and Llyod Kelly) without signing any replacements, so they are basically weaker than then they were, and they are fighting for the European spot this season!Arsenal fans still have hope of a comeback in the EFL Cup semifinal vs. Newcastle 🙏(w/ @milesxaddy) pic.twitter.com/UP8RhRGvwG— B/R Football (@brfootball) February 3, 2025 With Liverpool‘s current form and number of points, it‘s hard for Arsenal to think about the title push, while Newcastle doesn‘t have enough team quality for the Champions League spot. So, what better way to compensate than to win the League Cup? Both clubs would like a trophy if possible, and they are meeting each other in a second leg of the semi-final. Arsenal will have a huge motivation, mainly due to the fact that they lost from Newcastle 2-0 at the Emirates. The Gunners are also in better shape, as they hammered Manchester City 5-1 last week. Since Arteta became the manager, he only won one trophy – FA Cup in 2019, so he will be eager to get another one as well.”Next stop is a final in Wembley so we know how big that is and you can feel it. You can feel it straight away. The boost that the game gave us when against City, the manner that we did it and the fact that it’s a game that is the closest competition we are in to a final. So we’re going to give it our real go“ promised the Spaniard. He will be witouth five players for this one: Ben White, Bukayo Saka, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Gabriel Jesus (all injured) and Neto (cup tied).Magpies turn Emirates into their nest as Gunners are inches away from EFL Cup exitEverybody knows that Newcastle is chasing any trophy since 1955 so another Carabao Cup final (they played in 2023 final as well) is another chance to end this streak and secure a place in Europe next season. The Magpies lost two home games in a row (Bournemouth and Fulham) but motivation is very high, as this is their biggest chance of winning something. So, Newcastle‘s coach didn‘t have to do a lot of pep talk.“What I have tried to do with players is to channel those thoughts into excitement. It is a game you want to be involved in. I don’t think we want to look at it in any other way. It is a game we are going to try to win and I think that is the best way. We have to approach the game in a positive, aggressive way. Focusing too much on the scoreline and the dynamics of that, I don’t think it’s healthy for the brain. So let’s attack the game in our way. We have to be ourselves in every moment. It will be a front-foot performance and we need to engage the crowd. That combination of us and them, we have become a really potent team“ said Howe.EFL Cup SemifinalWednesday23:00 (4.10) Newcastle (3.50) Arsenal (1.90)Thursday 23:00 (1.25) Liverpool (6.50) Tottenham (10.0)***odds are subject to change***
