Silver battles bronze in an intriguing Premier League encounter on Sunday afternoon, as second-placed Arsenal welcome third-placed Newcastle United to their Emirates home.
Either side would assure themselves of a place in the 2025-26 Champions League with all three points in North London, where Eddie Howe aims to prolong his hoodoo over the Gunners.
Match preview
Rather than revel in his team’s terrific turnaround against Premier League champions Liverpool at Anfield, an apoplectic Mikel Arteta launched a scathing attack on Arsenal’s tepid first-half display, which allowed Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz to put the Reds two goals to the good.
However, in the true definition of a game of two halves, Gabriel Martinelli and Mikel Merino – who was later sent off – dragged Arsenal back into the top-of-the-table battle, and a 2-2 draw away to the holders after Champions League heartbreak was a more than respectable result.
Arteta chose to focus on the negatives rather than the positives, though, perhaps understandably so given that his side have now failed to win any of their last five games in all tournaments, hardly form befitting that of a side with title-winning ambitions in 2025-26.
In fact, Arsenal have not even secured a seat at the Champions League table for next season, but they will be virtually guaranteed qualification if Aston Villa fail to beat Tottenham Hotspur on Friday, and it would take a calamitous collapse for them to fall out of the top five of the Premier League rankings now.
The North London giants are not ending the current campaign as they mean to begin the new one, though, having failed to win any of their last four matches at the Emirates, and they could now lose three straight home fixtures for the first time since late 2019, the last of which came under Arteta during the earliest days of his reign.
Speaking of Arsenal suffering three straight defeats, that is the exact fate they have been condemned to in all of their meetings with Newcastle this term, a pair of EFL Cup semi-final reverses and a crushing Premier League loss at St James’ Park in the autumn.
Should the reigning EFL Cup champions maintain their stronghold over Arsenal this weekend, a coveted Champions League place will be theirs – as well as second spot in the table – and Howe’s men enhanced their podium credentials when Chelsea came to town last weekend.
Dynamic midfield duo Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes produced the crucial moments in a 2-0 victory for Newcastle, who are firing on all cylinders in attack at the perfect time; their scoring sequence in all competitions now stands at 11 consecutive matches.
Road trips have generally not been favourable for the men in black and white, though, as Newcastle have just two wins to their name from their last six Premier League away contests, but not since 2017-18 have they lost their final game of the season on their travels.
A new page of English football history is also on the line for Newcastle, who could become the first team to ever beat Arsenal four times in a single campaign, but the Gunners’ 12-game unbeaten home run against the Magpies in the Premier League at least stands them in good stead.
Team News
Taking the walk of shame for two bookable offences in the win over Liverpool, versatile Arsenal new boy Merino misses the Gunners’ final home game of the season through suspension, joining Jorginho (chest), Gabriel Jesus (knee), Gabriel Magalhaes (hamstring) and Takehiro Tomiyasu (knee) on the sidelines.
On a much brighter note – or three brighter notes – hamstring trio Declan Rice, Kai Havertz and Leandro Trossard, who was hurt in the second half last weekend, all took part in open training on Wednesday, and Arteta has refused to rule any of them out of this one.
However, Arteta will surely err on the side of caution and introduce some emergency alternatives into his starting XI, where Oleksandr Zinchenko is a prime candidate for the left eight role, and one of Ethan Nwaneri, Raheem Sterling or Kieran Tierney could start on the left wing.
As far as Newcastle are concerned, Sven Botman was withdrawn in the 55th minute of the win over Chelsea after taking a blow to his knee, and Howe has admitted that it will be tight for the Dutchman to make the cut this weekend.
Arsenal academy graduate Joe Willock (thigh) is in the same boat, but Kieran Trippier (calf) is expected to remain out alongside Matt Targett (thigh), Joelinton (knee), and Lewis Hall (foot).
Howe does have a like-for-like replacement for Botman in the shape of Jamaal Lascelles, who made a Premier League squad for the first time this season last weekend following his ACL injury, but Emil Krafth is a more likely alternative in the heart of defence.
Arsenal possible starting lineup:
Raya; Timber, Saliba, Kiwior, Lewis-Skelly; Odegaard, Partey, Zinchenko; Saka, Martinelli, Nwaneri
Newcastle United possible starting lineup:
Pope; Krafth, Schar, Burn; Murphy, Tonali, Guimaraes, Livramento; Barnes, Gordon; Isak
We say: Arsenal 1-1 Newcastle United
Much will depend on whether Arsenal’s influential injury doubts are able to contribute to Sunday’s game, but regardless, Arteta’s out-of-sorts men cannot be considered favourites, even on their own patch.
However, as Newcastle are also lamenting defensive absentees and boast an underwhelming record on the road, a score stalemate is the only outcome we can envisage, as the Gunners cling onto second spot for now.
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