Arsenal are looking for back to back away wins when they travel to Newcastle on Saturday afternoon, something they haven’t managed to achieve for a while.
In this fixture last season the Gunners fell to a 2-1 defeat, a win for Emery in this tricky game would certainly help win over some more Arsenal fans who may be yet to buy into his philosophy. Below is the predicted starting XI for the game.
Goalkeeper: Petr Cech
Cech has very publicly responded to critics about passing out from the back – but he needs to respond with performances at the end of the day. A confident and assured performance is needed, with Bernd Leno breathing down his neck and set to feature in the cup games coming up.
Defence: Hector Bellerin, Skhodran Mustafi, Sokratis, Nacho Monreal
Emery will persist with Mustafi and Sokratis at the back, but Mustafi needs to improve to keep his place. Monreal and Bellerin are influential in attack in Emery’s system, but they need to be solid defensively too, especially away from home in a fixture like this.
Midfield: Granit Xhaka, Lucas Torreira; Mesut Ozil, Aaron Ramsey, Aubameyang
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Xhaka and Torreira look like the perfect partnership at the base of midfield and hopefully we get to see them together in this game. Torreira can provide the protection Xhaka and the defence need. Aubameyang is likely to feature on the left, whilst Ozil has a point to prove and is likely to start in a wide berth, Mkhitaryan may feel he deserves to start.
Forward: Alexandre Lacazette
Lacazette, off the back of a great performance against Cardiff, will be hungry to be amongst the goals again. He seems keen to work for his place in the side and that can only be a positive thing for the team.