Arsenal have found themselves in an unusual situation where any defeat feels like they’re losing ground to Tottenham Hotspur in a Premier League title race, so an away game against Newcastle is far from ideal.
The Gunners suffered disappointment in midweek as their Carabao Cup hopes were ended by West Ham, losing 3-1 at the London Stadium. As for Newcastle, they went to Old Trafford and easily beat Manchester United 3-0, so they may be the more confident side of the two.
Both teams will be making plenty of changes from those two cup games when they meet at St. James’ Park on Saturday, with a number of injuries in both squads causing some issues.
Here is the team that Mikel Arteta could pick to secure victory for Arsenal away at Newcastle.
GK: David Raya – Aaron Ramsdale got the gloves on Wednesday but he certainly didn’t do enough to oust David Raya for the next Premier League game so expect the Spaniard to return.
RB: Ben White – Having scored an own goal and played the whole game against West Ham, Ben White may not be the most confident player on the pitch in Newcastle.
CB: William Saliba – He was given a rest so that Jakub Kiwior could get some minutes but Saliba will absolutely be back in the starting eleven.
CB: Gabriel Magalhaes – Another player who was involved throughout against West Ham, Gabriel is expected to hold his place in the centre of defence.
LB: Takehiro Tomiyasu – It was Zinchenko that played at left-back against West Ham but Tomiyasu is set to offer more rigidity to the defence, with Arteta potentially starting with four players who many would recognise as natural centre-backs.
CM: Martin Odegaard – A player getting a lot of attention for his perceived poor form, Odegaard got a rest on Wednesday so should be raring to go on Saturday.
CM: Jorginho – He only managed an hour on Wednesday and did not impress, but he should get a chance to redeem himself in a much bigger game.
CM: Declan Rice – It’s never good to get beaten by the team that you seemed to outgrow, but Declan Rice will be putting that behind him and returning to the starting XI.
RW: Bukayo Saka – Having been rested in favour of Reiss Nelson, Saka will certainly start and will have a big job to do against a good Newcastle defence.
ST: Eddie Nketiah – Arteta has no choice really but to start Nketiah given Gabriel Jesus is injured, so Nketiah needs to keep grasping these opportunities that come his way.
LW: Gabriel Martinelli – The Brazilian struggles for fitness but is superb when in full flight and he will take Leandro Trossard’s place in the team here.
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