Mikel Arteta confirms key Arsenal defender will not recover from injury in time for crucial Carabao Cup clash against Newcastle

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has confirmed that the Gunners will be without defender Ben White for the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final clash against Newcastle United on February 5.

White, who has been sidelined for the past 12 weeks after undergoing knee surgery in November, is nearing a return but remains unavailable for the upcoming fixture.

Ahead of the clash, Arteta provided an update on the 27-year-old's recovery, stating that the Gunners' Premier League match against Leicester City on February 15 is a more realistic target for his return.

Here's what he said (via NewcastleWorld):

"Ben is still out, hopefully, after the break, he will be available."

Meanwhile, the Gunners have no fresh injury concerns following their 5-1 victory over Manchester City on Sunday. However, the squad continues to deal with other long-term absences.

Bukayo Saka is expected to remain out until April while Gabriel Jesus has been ruled out for the rest of the season due to a knee injury sustained in the FA Cup defeat to Manchester United. Takehiro Tomiyasu also remains unavailable.

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Arsenal continue to chase Liverpool for PL title after thrashing City

Arsenal sent a strong message to their Premier League title rivals with a dominant 5-1 victory over reigning champions Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium. The Gunners, who are chasing league leaders Liverpool, produced a clinical second-half performance to inflict City's first league defeat of 2025.

Martin Ødegaard put Arsenal ahead within the opening two minutes before City responded in the 55th minute through an Erling Haaland header. However, Mikel Arteta's side quickly regained control as a deflected Thomas Partey strike put them back in front.

Youngster Myles Lewis-Skelly extended the north London side's lead in the 62nd minute before Kai Havertz and Ethan Nwaneri sealed a commanding win with a goal each.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola expressed frustration over his side's collapse in the closing stages of the match.

Here's what he said (via the official Manchester City website):

"I only regret the last 25 minutes - we forgot to do what we should do, what we had done for 65 or 70 minutes. After 10 or 15 minutes, we took the game and played really well. But after we made it 1-1, we gave away too many things. This cannot happen."

The result placed Arsenal six points behind Liverpool, who are currently on 56 points and also have a game in hand.