Arsenal have are having another dismal season and with the way things are going at the moment, the Gunners might be not able to play in Europe next campaign.
Going into the latest matchweek, Arsenal are 10th on the Premier League table while their Europa League hopes also hangs from a thread. After losing to Villarreal during the week, Arsenal must now regroup and face Newcastle United on Sunday in the league.
The Gunners have lost as many as 13 games this season and even though they should be picking up all three points this weekend, we really cannot put our money on a positive result in favour of the North London side.
Arsenal have managed just one win in their previous five league matches while Newcastle United, on the other hand, undefeated in their last 5 home matches. Steve Bruce’s side are playing some really good football over the past few weeks and we wouldn’t put it past them to cause an upset on Sunday.
Arsenal team news vs Newcastle United:
With a crucial second leg against Villarreal coming up, Mikel Arteta is expected to rest some of his regular first-team players on Sunday.
David Luiz and Gabriel should be coming back into the side replacing Rob Holding and Pablo Mari in central defence. Callum Chambers started at right-back on Thursday and he will be replaced by Hector Bellerin
Tierney should be available for selection but we doubt if Arteta will risk using him on Sunday. Granit Xhaka could keep playing at left-back while the manager also has the option to use someone like Cedric Soares in that role.
Dani Ceballos is not going to feature in the second leg so he will play against the Magpies alongside Elneny as Thomas Partey starts on the bench.
Willian is likely to come into the side on Sunday for Arsenal with the likes of Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka being rested. Odegaard will get another start and this match could also see the return of Lacazette.
Aubameyang came off the bench vs Villarreal but the Gabon international will be a definite feature on Sunday.
The Arsenal boss is expected to heavily rotate his squad in the Newcastle United game as he will be desperate to keep his players fresh and injury-free for the second leg of the semi-final.
How Arsenal could line up vs NUFC:
Predicted Starting Line-up: Leno; David Luiz, Gabriel, Hector Bellerin, Soares; Dani Ceballos, Elneny, Odegaard; Aubameyang, Willian, Lacazette.
Injury updates via Premier Injuries.
