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Arsenal take on Liverpool tonight in the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final. The two sides were locked at 0-0 after the first leg at Anfield, which saw the away side reduced to ten men early in the game after Granit Xhaka was sent off.
Gunners manager Mikel Arteta refused to give any team news as he does not want to give any hint of his starting XI to Liverpool.
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However, it has been confirmed that Mohamed Elneny, Thomas Partey and Nicolas Pepe are unavailable on account of international duty. Granit Xhaka is suspended while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is recovering from COVID. Cedric Soares was injured in the first leg and is a doubt for the game.
"I can't and I don't want to because I don't want to give anything away - I'm sorry! There are issues, those issues have to be resolved that is why we couldn't play the last game, but as you can understand we want to keep that internal," Arteta said.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Thiago Alcantara, Divock Origi, Nathaniel Phillips and Harvey Elliot have been ruled out for Liverpool due to injury. Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Naby Keita are unavailable due to them being away on international duty.
But like Arteta, Liverpool assistant manager Pep Lijnders has refused to give any hints of Liverpool's starting XI.
"It's good that we have three really good goalkeepers. Adrian saved our arse whenever he was needed. Kelleher is a special talent - he has the personality to not be involved for 60 minutes and then have to make a crucial save."
Possible starting XI for Arsenal and Liverpool today
Arsenal XI: Aaron Ramsdale, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Ben White, Gabriel Magalhães, Kieran Tierney, Calum Chambers, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith Rowe, Gabriel Martinelli, Alexandre Lacazette
Liverpool XI: Alisson, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joël Matip, Virgil van Dijk, Andrew Robertson, Jordan Henderson, Fabinho, Curtis Jones, Takumi Minamino, Roberto Firmino, Diogo Jota
Arteta and Lijnders speak ahead of Arsenal vs Liverpool
Mikel Arteta mentioned that he would not take the game lightly as he wanted to take his side into the final. The Carabao Cup is Arsenal's only chance at silverware this season after getting knocked out of the FA Cup at the hands of Championship side Nottingham Forest.
"We have the opportunity to get into a final, which is close to a title, against a big opponent, in our stadium, with our people, so we are very excited to play the game."
Pep Lijnders praised Arteta for his work so far this season in his press conference and said:
"They have a really good team at the moment. They have matured - credit to Mikel. We wanted to surprise them with our intensity which is what we did until the red card. Their team looks a proper team."
Arsenal last defeated Liverpool at the Emirates back in 2020, when they eked out a 2-1 win. Notably, the Gunners are unbeaten against Liverpool in four of their last five EFL Cup games, winning three of them.
