Arsenal have been knocked out of the Carabao Cup after they suffered a shock 3-1 loss at the hands of West Ham United in midweek but they will have little time to dissect this defeat because on Saturday, the Gunners are set to take on Newcastle United.
Newcastle go into this match at the back of a superb 3-0 win over Manchester United in the same tournament so despite having a long injury list, Eddie Howe and his boys will be full with confidence. Arsenal will have to come up with a response because the Magpies are a really strong side who have been scoring at a rate of 2.6 goals per match.
Mikel Arteta rested a few players in midweek thinking that it was going to be a regulation win but the Arsenal manager will have to name his strongest XI this weekend. Also, they do not have a great recent record against Newcastle United, managing to win just one out of their previous three meetings.
On paper, Arsenal will be the favourites to win this weekend but if they fail to pick up all three points then by the end of this matchweek, the North London side could fall five points behind league leaders Tottenham.
Arsenal’s team news and injuries:
Jurrien Timber and Gabriel Jesus are ruled out for lengthy periods while Thomas Partey has suffered a fresh setback and he will now be on the sidelines for a few more weeks as well.
“I think he will be out for weeks,” Mikel said in the pre-match press conference for the West Ham game. “I don’t know how long but he’s got another appointment today and we will see more after that.
“It is a big concern because when Thomas is fit and available and he’s been part of the team, we’ve seen the results and the impact that he had.”
Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard both started on the bench in the Hammers game so they will come back into the side while Partey’s absence means Jorginho is going to keep his place in central defence.
Ben White had a really poor game in midweek but the Arsenal manager will not drop him to bring Tomiyasu into the first XI.
Gabriel Jesus’ injury means Eddie Nketiah is not going to get any rest but Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli will return after playing substitute roles in the Carabao Cup.
Mikel Arteta does not have a very big squad so there won’t be too many rotations but because this is Newcastle United, the Arsenal boss is not going to name any benchwarmers in his starting XI. Players like Fabio Vieira and Havertz have been underwhelming this season so they will drop back to the bench.
Arsenal predicted line up vs Newcastle United:
Predicted Starting Line up(4-3-3): Raya; Zinchenko, Gabriel, Saliba, Ben White; Jorginho, Rice, Odegaard, Nketiah, Martinelli, Bukayo Saka.
