Arsenal, quite surprisingly suffered a loss to Porto in the Champions League but Mikel Arteta won’t have time to analyse it too much because they are set to face Newcastle United this weekend.
The 1-0 defeat to Porto was a bit of a shocker but all’s not lost for the Gunners, especially with the home tie still remaining. Their focus will now be on Saturday’s game because they are currently five points behind league leaders Liverpool and a loss against the Magpies will keep Arsenal in the third spot.
A win this weekend and the Gunners will be able to move within two points of the Premier League leaders but picking up three points will be very tricky because Newcastle United have been in fairly decent form. While Arsenal are undefeated in their previous five EPL matches, Eddie Howe’s men have won their last four away fixtures. Also, in their previous four meetings, the North London have managed to secure just a single victory against Newcastle.
The defeat in midweek was a small blip in an otherwise fine February and the kind of form they are in domestically, the Gunners should be able to quickly get things back on track.
Arsenal’s team news and injuries:
On paper, there are no major positives for Mikel Arteta because Gabriel Jesus and Zinchenko are both going to miss out which means Leandro Trossard and Kiwior will hold onto their places in the starting lineup.
The manager said in his pre-match press conference: “It’s the same with Gabby [Jesus] as well, he’s done a few things. Alex [Zinchenko] is not far at all, and Tomiyasu is still a little bit more.”
Thomas Partey has hardly played this season due to various injury concerns but he is getting close to making a comeback.
The Arsenal manager has said that Partey is training with the rest of the squad but we don’t think he is going to get any game time this weekend.
On Partey, the manager said: “Let’s see[if he is fit to play on Saturday]. We have another session today and obviously he’s been out for many, many months now and we need to really nail the timing and when he has enough in the tank to compete, but I think he’s very close.”
The midfield position could see one rotation as Jorginho comes into the side replacing Kai Havertz. Havertz has not been bad, per se, but the Arsenal manager will not want to risk another midfield injury.
If Jorginho comes in place of Havertz then that is going to be the only chance in the Arsenal starting line up which faced Porto in midweek. Mikel Arteta will love to rest several players but he is working with a very thin squad.
Arsenal predicted line up vs Newcastle United:
Predicted Starting line up(4-3-3): David Raya; Ben White, Gabriel, Saliba, Kiwior; Declan Rice, Jorginho/Havertz, Odegaard; Trossard, Bukayo Saka, Martinelli.
