Carabao Cup Semi-Final Draw: Holders Liverpool Drawn to Face Tottenham; Arsenal to Face Newcastle United
After reaching the semi-finals for the fourth time in the last seven seasons, Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs side will take on holders Liverpool in the last four, with the first leg at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Arne Slot’s Reds beat Southampton 2-1 on Wednesday night.
Newcastle – who beat Brentford 3-1 in the quarter-finals – will play Arsenal – who saw off Crystal Palace thanks to Gabriel Jesus’ hat-trick – with the first leg at the Emirates Stadium.
The draw has left the possibility of a north London derby final.
The Carabao Cup semi-final ties will take place over two legs across the week commencing January 6 and the week beginning February 3.
Arsenal’s fixture headache
Just like many teams fighting on all fronts, Arsenal’s January commitments do not read favourably. Eight games in three different competitions, and that is before a Carabao Cup semi-final date is confirmed, rounding the total up to nine.
How Mikel Arteta deals with such a congested schedule could be the making or breaking of their season. The new year starts with visits to Brentford and Brighton, before a successive run of four home games, hosting Man Utd in the FA Cup, Tottenham in the north London derby, Aston Villa and Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League.
The month ends with trips to Wolves and finally Girona.
It is an exhausting programme for a squad not yet blessed with particularly convincing strength in depth. The Gunners’ second string needed reinforcements off the bench – Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka – to see off Crystal Palace in the quarters and you suspect a similar XI, without the two named, would not contain enough firepower to reach March’s showpiece.
Arteta will have to strike the perfect balance to stay afloat.
Can Liverpool keep up momentum in January?
Liverpool do not have the trickiest January of the Carabao Cup semi-finalists on paper, however they do face a trip to Brentford who are still unbeaten on home soil, and host Man Utd – who just won at the Etihad – in their first game of 2025.
Nottingham Forest are no mugs at the City Ground, either. But there could be some chances to rotate, too – Accrington Stanley, Ipswich and Lille visit Anfield and although a final Champions League group game at PSV is not the easiest, Liverpool could have wrapped up top spot in the first phase by then – and can utilise a few squad players again.
There is also the small matter of a Merseyside derby to re-arrange – although in an already-packed January, that will likely have to wait until February at least.
Already-stretched Tottenham’s tricky run
Tottenham’s selection problems in key areas, particularly defensively, have not done much to help Postecoglou build upwards momentum in north London and he now faces a punishing January as the club search for their first silverware in 16 years.
Newcastle visit London before what should be a routine trip to Tamworth in the FA Cup third round, but then a derby with Arsenal, visits to Everton and Hoffenheim, and home games with Leicester and Elfsborg round off a busy month.
Freshness could give Newcastle the edge
Unlike their semi-final rivals, Newcastle have no European football to contend with in January which could be the marginal gain Eddie Howe will be looking to exploit over the other three teams.
Even after their first-leg trip to Arsenal, it is Bromley, of Sky Bet League Two, at home in the FA Cup at St James’ Park, meaning Howe will be able to rotate accordingly if required. Home matches in the Premier League against Wolves and Bournemouth follow. It could be a lot worse.
