Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka banned for Liverpool return clash

Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka is suspended for Thursday’s Carabao Cup semi-final second leg at home to Liverpool following his red card during last week’s 0-0 draw between the teams at Anfield.

The Gunners were forced to postpone Sunday’s derby with Tottenham due to a number of players being unavailable and boss Mikel Arteta admitted they still have “issues” ahead of the Emirates clash.

He was coy over team selection on Wednesday but will definitely be without Thomas Partey, Mohamed Elneny, Nicolas Pepe and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, while several other squad members need to be assessed over knocks or Covid-19 concerns.

Liverpool’s Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has been ruled out of facing his former club after suffering an ankle injury in Sunday’s 3-0 win over Brentford.

Reds assistant manager Pep Lijnders said the problem is not serious and the 28-year-old is hopeful of returning in time for Sunday’s trip to Crystal Palace.

Divock Origi and Thiago Alcantara will both remain sidelined until next month, while the match comes too soon for Harvey Elliott despite his return to training.

Arsenal provisional squad: Leno, Ramsdale, Tomiyasu, Chambers, Cedric, Mari, Gabriel, White, Holding, Tierney, Tavares, Lokonga, Patino, Smith Rowe, Saka, Lacazette, Martinelli, Nketiah.

Liverpool provisional squad: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Van Dijk, Matip, Robertson, Fabinho, Henderson, Jones, Jota, Firmino, Minamino, Kelleher, Williams, Konate, Gomez, Tsimikas, Milner, Morton, Gordon.