Morning all.
A trip to Newcastle on a rainy Saturday evening is a hood enough reason to be concerned. A dodgy start to the season for Eddie Howe’s team saw them lose three of their opening four games, however, since then, they’ve gone eight games without defeat. Ten games done, 26 goals scored, and the rags to riches club have recovered well. They have a number of players out or a doubt for this evenings fixture – Tonali is banned, Targett, Anderson and Murphy are injured whilst both Isak and Schar are doubts.
Arsenal are without Jurrien Timber of course, as well as Emile Smith Rowe, Gabriel Jesus and Thomas Partey. Take Timber out of the equation, the three others are no strangers to Arsenal’s injury list.
Arsenal’s last two away performances haven’t been the best. The League Cup performance against West Ham might have been attributed to the vast number of changes made by Mikel Arteta but at Stamford Bridge, there’s no excuse for such a poor first half. However, the fight back to earn a point cannot be ignored, nor can the impact Mikel Arteta’s substitutions had on the game. All five of them.
I’ve gone a bit ‘Ben White’ this season and no, I don’t mean I’ve bleached my hair white but I don’t watch much football other than Arsenal so I’ve no idea how Newcastle Utd play these days which is why I rely on Arsenal’s Adrian Clarke because at least then I’ve an idea of what to expect.
Eddie Howe is still deploying a 4-3-3 each week, but Newcastle’s attack has gone to the next level this season. Blessed with incredible pace, movement, and directness up top, a super-confident Magpies side has scored 26 goals in 10 matches, with Callum Wilson netting at a rate of one every 60 minutes. How we cope with Newcastle’s fast start will play a huge part in the outcome. The Magpies’ aggressive brand of football has seen them score seven times in the opening half-hour of games, with Aston Villa the only team to have netted more in that period. We must weather that storm.
Left winger Anthony Gordon has been clocked as one of the fastest players in the division, and his ball-carrying threat will certainly be a test for Ben White’s defensive skillset. Gordon has made 12 chances from ball carries, scoring twice from those runs, so that is a duel to look out for. Another will be between Gabriel Martinelli and Kieran Trippier. The Toon skipper’s pinpoint deliveries have created 31 chances (including six assists) this season, putting him joint-top of the rankings alongside James Maddison. Martinelli will have to track Trippier’s forward runs, but if he offers a threat with his sprints going the other way, it should force his marker to retreat.
Reading Clarke’s ‘blessed with incredible pace, movement, and directness up top” leaves me feeling kind of envious because it’s something we don’t really have. Martinelli is quick, as is Nelson but other than them, there’s not a lot of speedsters in our squad. That’s not a criticism by the way, it’s just not the way Mikel Arteta sets his team out. At least I don’t think it is. His teams are about passing, movement and a steady buildup. Admittedly, it bores me to tears sometimes and part of the reason I don’t watch an awful lot of of football. But that’s just me and I’m probably in the minority, after all, we’re doing pretty well so far this season by playing such a way.
I think Mikel Arteta could start Takehiro Tomiyasu this evening because defensively, he’s more reliable than Oleksandr Zinchenko. Again though, that’s just my opinion. With Gabriel Jesus out, it’s either Eddie Nketiah or a change of approach from Mikel Arteta, the height and strength of Kai Havertz, the finishing accuracy of Leandro Trossard or something totally different with Gabriel Martinelli moving central. I suspect it’ll be Nketiah. Martin Odegaard came off the bench against West Ham so one can assume he’ll start, as no doubt will Ben White, Gabriel, William Saliba, David Raya, Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice.
Newcastle Utd are bound to come out of the blocks quickly and try and take an early hold on the game. They’re the home team so it’s what one would expect. As Clarke says, Arsenal need to weather the early storm and then try and take control themselves. If Isak is fit, he’s a handful and by the sounds of it, so is Wilson this season and we all know Trippier can be a right pain in the backside.
Stuart Attwell is the man with the whistle today, his first Arsenal game since our Community Shield victory back in August. His assistants are:
- Assistants: Richard West, James Mainwaring
- Fourth official: Graham Scott
- VAR: Andy Madley
- Assistant VAR: Stuart Burt
Let’s hope for a good game with good officiating and a good result for Arsenal..
Catch up in the comments..
,
Good morning Rico,
Newcastle are obviously on a high, but that could be their downfall if they get over confident. I would rather see Arsenal play their own game than try to sit back and weather the storm.
I agree with you that Tomiyasu should start rather than Zinchenko who too often goes missing when he should be defending.
Rays or Ramsdale? Too close to call.
RAYA, RAYA NOT RAYS!!!!😉
Morning Cicero, by playing our own game well, we should be able to weather the storm. Just need to be awake from the off.
afternoon all!
Working while waiting for game time.
Come on Arsenal!
Jammy Utd!
A predictable result for a match between two mid table clubs. 😉
Afternoon Rico/all
A win today and the disappointment of the West ham game can be forgotten.
The same fixture last season was a great result,0 -2 Newcastle came out very fast that day,some great saves from Ramsdale kept us in the game. After the first half hour we controlled the game,impressive as we were without Saliba.
I’d expect the same team as against Sheffield United.
As I type England have just lost a wicket in the Cricket …
COYG
Afternoon rico, all.
I believe Havertz will be up top, providing Odegaard is fit.
Afternoon Limey, Andrew.
A win tonight would be massive but as much as I sound negative, I think we’ll struggle unless we’re much much better than we were against Chelsea.
Wouldn’t surprise me if he was Andrew. Havertz I mean.
No Odegaard, Nketiah up front.
Emma Hayes will leave Chelsea at the end of the season, the WSL club have announced.
Chelsea say Hayes, who is one of the most respected and successful managers in women’s football, is departing “to pursue a new opportunity outside of the WSL and club football”.
What a surprise….
Arsenal starting XI: Raya, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Tomiyasu, Rice, Jorginho, Havertz, Saka, Martinelli, Nketiah.
Subs: Ramsdale, Hein, Kiwior, Cedric, Trossard, Vieira, Nelson, Elneny, Zinchenko.
Two ‘keeper’s on the bench? That’s an oddity.
Don’t they do that these days? I’d rather see an outfield player in there, an academy player.
This game is already a bit spiky..
Upgrade to a red?
Get him off, lucky lucky guy…
A frustrating game so far,we can win this !
I see Nicolas Pepe scored earlier.
Is Havertz on a mission to have an early shower?
It’s eventful Limey. Lol
Can someone shut Gary Neville up!
The ball went out, the rest is irrelevant…
That’s what I thought at the time , sky doing their best to justify the goal .
Yet to see their take on red cards and the ref completely losing control.
I thought Havertz should have been sent off, if not for the first one, the second deserved a booking imo. Bruno too should have seen red for two different fouls. The officiating was shocking, their goal should never have stood.
https://x.com/skysportspl/status/1720899411297853445?s=61
Hats off to Mikel Arteta. I have nothing but admiration for his his post match comments. 👏👏
About time a manager said it as it is…
Didn’t mince his words . No doubt he will be in trouble but it needs to be said.
Definitely but we know what’ll happen, same old Arsenal…..
VAR is an absolute disgrace..
The only thing Gary Neville said all evening that had a smidgen of sense was near the end of the game, words to the effect that Arsenal must sign a proper number nine in the summer.
Didn’t get to see the match due to the time difference, but not the result I was expecting, did we play badly or was it bad referring.
He ‘s only saying what most of us have been saying all season. It is now plainly obvious that we are pretty toothless when Martinelli and Saka are negated.
Burn looked after Saka physically and neither of them had anything to aim for if they got behind Tripper and Burn .
Teams have learned to double up on our wingers and whilst there is no target man we are left with hopeful passes and long shots .
A few videos popping up on the internet trying their best to show the ball was still in play that led to their goal but from what I could see the ball looked fully over the line.
New post up