Arsenal returned to winning ways on Tuesday with an emphatic 3-1 victory against Chelsea after going four matches without a win.
As they head to St James Park to take on Newcastle, they will hope to revive their winning streak. Unlike Arsenal though, Newcastle have been on blistering form in recent weeks, winning eight of their last nine Premier League matches including a 6-1 thrashing of Arsenal’s London rivals Tottenham Hotspur.
Arsenal would like to avoid the same sharp sword but have to ask their defence to work overtime to stop the firepower of Newcastle’s attackers Alexander Isak and Callum Wilson who have been scoring for fun these past couple of weeks.
A win for Arsenal will keep their Premier League title hopes alive, while a win for Newcastle will keep them closer to Champions League football next season.
Arsenal have a far superior head-to-head record against Newcastle, winning 20 of the 27 matches they’ve played (L3, D4) but the last time the two teams met ended in a goalless stalemate in January this year.
While talking to the press on Friday, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said his team will want to play a game different from that they played in January and earn the right to win it.
“We will try to play the game that we want and they will want to play a very different game, that’s for sure. That was the battle when we played them at Emirates Stadium, I think we deserved to win the game.
There are things that are obviously going to be different from the last game and we’re going to have to be better to earn the right to win it.” Arteta told reporters.
Newcastle manager Eddie Howe also faced the press on the same day and gave an insight on how the match could go and his plans for it.
“We’re competing against elite teams who will fight to the end and we have to do the same. In our five games we need to give our best preparation and focus because the fight we’re in could go right to the end of the season,” Howe said.
Team news
Allan Saint-Maximin is back in training for Newcastle and could feature in this fixture. However, Sean Longstaff is still nursing a foot issue so he is a big doubt. Everyone else is alright.
For Arsenal, Arteta said that defender William Saliba is still unavailable due to his back injury and Gabriel Magalhaes, who limped off during the Chelsea victory on Tuesday will have to pass a late fitness test for him to feature.
