8 minutes: Livramento advances down the right and crosses long to Gordon. Just a little too high for Gordon to get a proper header on goal or to deflect it for a teammate. Raya claims so.

7 minutes: Gordon beats Trossard with ease on the left but his low cross into a crowded penalty area fails to beat the first man. There is now a nice, open feel to the game, with both sides showing ambition in attack.

6 minutes: Rice rolls the ball from the left to the near post. Timber goes too far in his header attempt and the ball sails harmlessly into the goal.

5 minutes: There is some space for Martinelli at the bottom left. His cross is half cleared by Burn. Arsenal come through again, this time through Timber on the right. Timber crosses wide and forces Livramento to head the ball for one of those Arsenal Corners™. They have already scored 16 of them this season. So here we go.

3 minutes: Livramento wedges a long pass down the right inside channel for Isak, who reaches the penalty area before cutting back to Joelinton. The ball wobbles and Joelinton pushes his first swing miles over the crossbar. However, the move is a first positive sign for the Toon.

2 minutes: A pretty bumpy, unimpressive beginning. On and on we still have 178 minutes plus interruptions to go.

Newcastle gets the ball rolling. The Emirates with a good voice. Roar!

The teams are out! Arsenal in red and white, Newcastle in black and white, just like little John Lennon had. An exuberant atmosphere at the Emirates, as befits the first leg of a major semi-final. We’re leaving in a few minutes. In the meantime, here’s Justin Kavanagh: “Mark Chapman gets the ball rolling by calling Arteta an asshole on air; What a shame that David Coote isn’t one of the referees on the microphone tonight who can tell us what he really thinks about the sideline criticism from Arteta and Howe. That would really be an added value.”

Mailbag before the game. “The Arsenal team has returned to decent strength – but that doesn’t matter; Arsenal fans just want to enjoy the feeling that warms their hearts at the thought of the popular Tomas Rosicky returning to the club. We had a nice 10 years with him (for the most part), loved the quality of his play, felt sorry for him because of his many injuries and generally thought he was a good egg. “I don’t know if, as a sports director, you actually want a good egg and not some steely-eyed, unsentimental Flintheart, but if there is a choice, I know what I would choose” – Charles Antaki

“Unfortunately I gave myself a hard time and smashed my thumbnail trying to close a window. At one point it looked like my MBM contribution was in serious jeopardy. I managed to recover by consuming some “inspirational” interviews with the tough men of English football of yesterday: Mick Harford, Martin Keown, Jean Alain Boumsong, Pascal Cygan. Keown, in particular, seemed to spend a lot of time punching people in the formative years of his career. But he spoke well and showed that I could overcome the pain. My question is: Would you rather see Havertz vs. Botman or Harford vs. Keown tonight? I know my answer” – Chris Paraskevas

“God forbid I sound cynical, but the best outcome of this is that at least one hilariously smug incompetent of the ‘Good Process Boys’ mold, for example, gets the instant crowd reaction he deserves.” Which, uh, maybe I actually am there” – James Humphries

Oh Chappers, how could you! Also over an hour before the watershed.

Mikel Arteta speaks to Sky. “It’s great to have Kai Havertz back…big event, big game…I’m looking forward to it…Newcastle have threats from different directions…like every team in the Premier League, very difficult…it was a very competitive game (at St. James’ Park) and we don’t deserve to lose it… another chance today.”

Eddie Howe, who takes charge of Newcastle for the 150th time this evening, speaks to Sky Sports. “Joe Willock’s running ability is his greatest strength… a brilliant athlete who will help us in and out of possession… he is also technically good… he will add a different dimension to our midfield… we can’t play the same (without Bruno). Guimaraes) … a tactical change … only Bruno can do what Bruno can do … we have to find another way … it’s about whether the team can adapt, but I think we can.”

VAR wasn’t used in any of the previous rounds but is back for the semi-finals and final, baby! Did you miss it? No, neither do we. Tonight also introduces a nifty new feature: Should VAR need to intervene at any point, the on-field referee will announce and explain the decision to the audience via the NFL-style microphone. “We believe it will add some value,” emphasizes PGMOL boss Howard Webb, which suggests how this caper will or will not turn out depending on your point of view, level of cynicism, memory of previous decisions and explanations, ideas, etc.

Arsenal make five changes to their starting XI after their 1-1 draw at Brighton. Martin Ødegaard, Jurriën Timber, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Gabriel Martinelli and Kai Havertz all return; Riccardo Calafiori, Jorginho, Mikel Merino and Gabriel Jesus drop to the bench while Ethan Nwaneri is out injured.

Newcastle also names a strong team and makes only one change to the team that started the 2-1 win at Spurs, and it’s a forced one. Joe Willock replaces suspended captain Bruno Guimarães.

The teams

preamble