Eddie Howe to make two changes: Our predicted Newcastle United XI to face Arsenal on Tuesday night

Eddie Howe is the master of answering questions and giving no answers but we think we've seen through his words from this morning's press conference and we have an idea what his Newcastle United starting XI will be to face Arsenal.

Newcastle and Arsenal are set to face off in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final at the Emirates on Tuesday night with Fabian Schar and Bruno Guimaraes unavailable through suspension.

Sven Botman covered for Fabian Schar in the Premier League on Saturday and we expect that to be the case too, while we've gone with Sean Longstaff to fill in for Bruno Guimaraes.

However, Bruno fills a dual role as the team captain, so we think Eddie Howe will deploy Kieran Trippier over Tino Livramento for his leadership abilities.

Goalkeeper

Martin Dubravka - Possibly his final game for Newcastle United if rumours are to be believed. Make it a good one!

Defenders

Kieran Trippier - Trips will come in to lead the side in what's expected to be a tough fixture.

Sven Botman - It might be a bit too quick a turnaround after nine months out, but Howe has hinted that Sven feels good enough to keep going.

Dan Burn - Solid yet again against Spurs. His form and Botman's return are set to give Howe a headache.

Lewis Hall - With Bukayo Saka and Ethan Nwaneri both absent for Arsenal, Hall could be set for a good game.

Midfielders

Sean Longstaff - It could have been Longy, Lewis Miley or Joe Willock, but Howe's presser gives us a feeling that he'll go with Longstaff.

Sandro Tonali - Has been thriving lately and we've seen him at his best without Bruno next to him too, so we're not worried about the trio being broken up for one game.

Joelinton - Has got a fire in his belly lately which showed against Spurs and as long as he can keep out of the referee's book, long may it continue.

Forwards

Jacob Murphy - Another assist for the Murphster at the weekend after a misfiring game against Man United.

Alexander Isak - The Arsenal superstar is a bit of a worry for Eddie Howe ... oh wait, he's a Newcastle player, isn't he? Unlucky, Arsenal!

Anthony Gordon - It'll take more than a bash on the beak to stop Anthony Gordon!

Despite it being a second game in just a couple of days, we can't see Eddie Howe tweaking more than he has to so we've resisted the urge to put in Harvey Barnes over Anthony Gordon after his knock.

The Sven Botman thing is still a bit of a guessing game, but he is a tank and he'll not want to miss more football than he already has.

Arsenal have some big players missing too, so this could be an interested contest on Tuesday night.