We saw a surprise in the EFL Cup semi-final match and it was very interesting and exciting. Arsenal lost the match and they are very likely to be eliminated from the semi-finals. Newcastle played strongly and with excitement which resulted in them achieving a good result to qualify for the final. Newcastle are two goals ahead in the first leg of the semi-final, of course they will be even stronger against Arsenal in the second leg to qualify for the final. I think Arsenal may not be able to score as many goals in the second leg so their chances of going to the final are also very low.
Arsenal's performance has decreased a little after Saka was injured and this is a problem that Arteta may need to overcome. For the second leg Newcastle will be much more favored because being two goals ahead in the first leg will make it easier for them to reach the final and it is much more difficult for Arsenal to get a win if Newcastle plays more defensively. In the Premier League itself, Arsenal will face strong teams in the next two matches and it might make Arsenal a little difficult to achieve the results they want. Arteta is under a little more pressure and if he makes the wrong decision it will make them drop out of the top two positions in the standings.
I just think that after this first leg encounter, Newcastle united is now the clear favourite to progress to the finals of this year EFL cup, though anything can still happen, arsenal has the capacity of turning things around, but it's going to be extremely difficult now that Saka is out injured, and just as you have rightfully said a huge pressure is already on Mikel arteta to deliver the title, so they can't afford falling out of the title race or dropping off to third place, so I don't necessarily think that he is going to prioritize this trophy risk it all over the English premier league title, so in my own opinion, if am an arsenal fan, I would be expecting less from this arsenal team in the reverse fixture of this game because Mikel arteta would not priority this game over the upcoming premier league matches, he wouldn't play his best team, no he wouldn't do that, so the arsenal faithful should expect less from their team in the reverse fixture of this game so as not to feel too disappointed if they were finally knockout of the competition.