The Carabao Cup semi-finals have been confirmed, with Spurs to face Liverpool and Arsenal taking on Newcastle United.
The two-legged semi-final ties will be played in January and February and the final is scheduled to take place on 16th March at Wembley Stadium. Tottenham sealed their qualification with an entertaining 4-3 win over Manchester United on Thursday night. With goals from Dominic Solanke and Dejan Kulusevski, Spurs were at 3-0 until the 54th minute. Some of Fraser Forster’s costliest mistakes allowed United to bring substitutes Joshua Zirkzee and Amad Diallo within a touching distance 3-2 with 20 minutes remaining.
Despite tremendous United pressure, Heung-min Son’s corner sent the lead of Tottenham extended to 4-2 and it held until Jonny Evans was too late to score his own goal. Liverpool guaranteed themselves a semi-final by going 2-1 ahead of managerless Southampton. Darwin Núñez finally broke his scoring dry spell with a cool finish after a misjudged Jan Bednarek clearance and that was enough for this victory. Liverpool, however, made eight changes into the game.
Gabriel Jesus marked his Emirates return with a hat-trick as Arsenal pulled off a pulsating 3-2 win over Crystal Palace. Mikel Arteta heavily rotated, knowing the importance of this tie ahead of Arsenal’s Premier League re-match with Palace on Saturday, but the Gunners edged closer to their first League Cup triumph since 1993.
Meanwhile, Newcastle triumphed 3-1 against Brentford at St James’ Park. Sandro Tonali starred with a brace as Eddie Howe’s full-strength side dominated to move one step closer to their first major silverware since 1969.
The semi-finals promise high-stakes drama, with all four clubs eyeing a coveted Wembley appearance.
