Eddie Howe urged his Newcastle United team to "leave a legacy" when they take on Arsenal in the EFL Cup on Wednesday.

Newcastle welcome Arsenal to St. James' Park for the second leg of their semi-final tie, holding a 2-0 lead from the first fixture at Emirates Stadium.

Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon got the goals in the first leg at the start of January.

And Howe, whose team were runners-up in the 2022-23 EFL Cup, losing to Manchester United in the final, wants his players to ensure their place in club history.

Howe told reporters: "All our players have to show they can rise to the occasion, that they can leave a legacy on the pitch and do something that everybody talks about for years and years.

"What an opportunity we have to attack the game and embrace everything in front of us, to be at our best.

"Nerves and excitement are closely linked, and I understand the brain can go in different directions, but what a great opportunity we've got."

Newcastle, who lost 2-1 at home to Fulham on Saturday, have won four of their last seven meetings with Arsenal in all competitions (D1 L2), as many as they had in their previous 45 against the Gunners. 

However, they have never beaten Arsenal in three different matches in a single campaign before.

Before this season, there have been 32 instances of a side losing the first leg of an EFL Cup semi-final by a margin of two or more goals (as Arsenal did against Newcastle this term). Only one of those have progressed to the final, with Aston Villa overturning a 3-1 first-leg deficit against Tranmere in 1993-94.

And Howe knows the importance of the home crowd creating an atmosphere.

"I think [our success] has been a combination of us and the crowd," he added.

"I think we’ve become a really potent team together and that is what we are going to need in this game.

"We are going to need to engage all our supporters in our energy and our body language, we need to make this a formidable environment for our opponent. It is our duty to do that."