Arsenal vs. Newcastle
Venue: Emirates Stadium
Kick off: 4PM
Arsenal head into Saturday’s Premier League clash with Newcastle United with the need to return to winning ways after recording draws on the road against Southampton and West Ham United.
The Magpies make the trip to the Emirates Stadium having suffered seven defeats in eight matches, leaving Rafael Benitez’s men just one point above the relegation zone.
With Arsenal having collected 21 points from eight home games this season, you would expect Arsene Wenger’s side to be comfortably inside the top four in the table, but their away form is threatening to condemn the club to another year of Europa League football.
It is still relatively early days but with just two wins coming from nine away fixtures, the Gunners are under pressure to maintain their return at the Emirates or face the likelihood of at least another six fixtures on a Thursday night from next September.
Meanwhile, the Magpies were sitting pretty in the top half of the standings two months ago, but a run of one point from eight matches has left the club in a relegation fight ahead of a daunting trip to Arsenal.
In their defence, Newcastle were unfortunate to lose against Everton on Wednesday night with the woodwork taking a battering, but the fact remains that they are not scoring enough goals in the final third and have only kept one clean sheet in 13 attempts.
Despite the club’s stature, they face a battle to remain at the top tier of English football once again and Benitez finds himself in a position where he may have to consider a starting role for Aleksandar Mitrovic.
Arsenal possible XI: Cech; Bellerin, Koscielny, Monreal, Kolasinac, Xhaka, Wilshere, Sanchez, Ozil, Welbeck, Lacazette.
Newcastle United possible XI: Darlow, Yedlin, Lascelles, Lejeune, Manquillo, Hayden, Merino, Ritchie, Perez, Murphy, Joselu.