Arsenal will be looking to pick up a second successive away victory on Saturday afternoon, as they head to Newcastle United for their latest Premier League test.
- Kick-off: 12.45pm Saturday 29th August
- Venue: St. James’ Park
- Last Seasons Result: Newcastle 1 – 2 Arsenal
The Gunners are hoping to bounce back with a result at St James’ Park this weekend, after the disappointing goalless draw at the Emirates Stadium on Monday night.
Arsene Wenger has been criticised throughout the week for failing to recruit any fresh faces in the squads attacking outlets, and this weekend provides a perfect chance for a number of Gunners to shine.
Currently stuck on four points and hanging around the middle of the table after three games has only added to the struggles facing Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott.
Arsenal’s only two fit strikers are fighting it out for the centre forward role, and Wenger is expected to hand Walcott his first start in the Premier League campaign.
Newcastle on the other hand are suffering with a small amount of points, but have plenty to cheer about still, with a number of positives to take out of recent results.
Steve McClaren’s side picked up a point against Southampton and Manchester United, and following their mid-week 4-1 Capital One Cup victory, confidence is high going into the weekend.
Unlike Arsenal, the North East club have been heavily involved with this summers transfer window, bringing in the likes of Forlain Thauvin, Georginio Wijnaldum and Alexandar Mitrovic for a total of £42million.
Newcastle are hoping they don’t experience a repeat of last seasons result, and will have every belief that they can get something out of this game, with the pressure resting solely on the away side.
Key Men
Arsenal: Alexis SanchezÂ
Although you may be under the impression that I’ve decided on Alexis this week because he is one of our best players, there’s something we all need to understand.
The Chilean hasn’t quite looked himself just yet, and Wenger admitted after the Liverpool game that he wasn’t completely fit, something we realised after the number of chances he failed to convert on Monday night.
Alexis is undoubtedly going to be in our starting eleven again, and after another week of intensive training we will need to see some sort of considerable improvement.
It’s been argued by many Gunners fans as to why we haven’t given a fully fit Oxlade-Chamberlain a run out, and Alexis will want to silence all of those critics with a performance matching his form of last season.
Newcastle: Georginio Wijnaldum
We’ve already touched on the Dutch international briefly, and the 24-year-old will be raring to go this weekend after being fully rested in mid-week.
At £14.5million, the attacking midfielder is the most lucrative signing McClaren has made this summer, and so far he is justifying his price tag with the 261 Premier League minutes he’s already racked up.
Wijnaldum loves to pick up the ball from goal-kicks and then feed into his attacking partners, with the likes of Mitrovic and Jack Colback to feed off of the Netherlands international.
Francis Coquelin will have to stick tight to this opponent this weekend, as he likes to roam free but is rarely interested in having a go at goal.
Standing at 5ft 8in, he won’t be causing too many problems in aerial battles, but Coquelin will be chasing down his target throughout the 90 minutes.
Likely Approach
If Arsenal perform anything like they did in the first half against Liverpool, then you can bet there will be no second time lucky, therefore they need to dominate from the off.
And as good as possession is from the first whistle, there has to be some sort of blow early on to settle the pressure on many of these players shoulders.
Arsenal are expected to line up with Mertesacker and Gabriel following the Brazilian’s terrific performance and the minor injury of Laurent Koscielny.
Therefore, there will be no sort of high line, so everything will start from the back and you can bet a lot of the play will be dictated on the half way line.
That will then allow Walcott to dip in and out of the gaps just waiting to pounce on a through ball that will ultimately beat Fabricio Coloccini hands down.
Newcastle on the other hand will be happy to take a lesson out of West Ham’s book, sitting back and waiting to exploit the counter attacking option.
If Arsenal are to play slowly across the middle of the park, McClarren will have instructed his players to be patient for the first half an hour and then begin to break down the majority of Arsenal’s defensive build-up.
They have plenty of pace out on the wings in the form of Ayoze Perez and Thauvin, and it’s exactly that agility which will play on the back foot of Aaron Ramsey.
Playing in his un-favoured position of right wing, the Welshman is often tempted to get sucked into central midfield, leaving plenty of space to attack the vulnerable youngster, Hector Bellerin.
Newcastle will be up for a fight as we saw against Manchester United, but the mid-week action will not have helped fitness levels.
Arsenal XI: Cech, Bellerin, Mertesacker, Gabriel, Monreal, Coquelin, Cazorla, Ramsey, Ozil, Alexis, Walcott
Newcastle XI: Krul, Mbemba, Coloccini, Janmaat, Haidara, Anita, Colback, Thauvin, Wijnaldum, Mitrovic, Perez
Prediction: Newcastle 0 – 2 Arsenal
There is a distinct target for the Gunners on Saturday, to play for your place and pick up a result, otherwise we could be seeing big changes.
Wenger still hasn’t determined his best starting eleven, and this game will definitely help because it’s winnable yet tricky, and Newcastle will buckle under those determinations.
Walcott will love to run in behind the defenders and I think a switch up in the attack will do some good for our suppliers, as well as Olivier Giroud who has had a lot of pressure in recent fixtures.
Arsenal will ultimately have too much for the Toon when it comes to the day, and having played a full 90 minutes on Tuesday night (although with a much-changed squad), some of their players won’t be as prepared as they were for the Manchester United game.
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