Rafa Benitez is still looking for his first win of the Premier League season for Newcastle United as the side hosts Arsenal, who have beaten the Magpies in five out of their last six meetings...
Although Newcastle have put up a fight in every game of the season so far, they've only got one point to show for it (Cardiff, 0-0).
It has to be said that all of those three losses came against top six opposition, and all of those games were very close, losing 2-1 in all three instances versus Spurs, Chelsea and Manchester City respectively.
For Arsenal, the post-Wenger era has been a mixed bag so far. The first two games of the season were lost to Manchester City (0-2) and Chelsea (3-2), but they've looked better in the games after, beating both West Ham and Cardiff City.
TEAM NEWS:
Newcastle have some doubts, as Javier Manquillo, Matt Ritchie and Jonjo Shelvey are listed as questionable.
Benitez is optimistic about Shelvey getting fit on time, but Ritchie will likely start from the bench, with Ayoze Perez manning the left flank and Kenedy being swapped to the right.
Florian Lejeune, of course, won't play, as the Frenchman tore his ACL at the start of the season, which should sideline him for the better part of the campaign.
The Gunners are still light at the back, with Laurent Koscielny, Sead Kolasinac, Carl Jenkinson and Ainsley Maitland-Niles all out, but the attack is now locked and loaded, with all their gunmen having rested during the international break, and Mesut Özil having recovered from illness.
Not the best news from a Newcastle point of view. Lucas Torreira will likely be on the bench again, with the Uruguayan having picked up an injury on international duty with Uruguay. He's training again, but Unai Emery will likely not risk it.
WHAT THE MANAGERS SAY:
“It is not about me and the tactics, it is about players, the results and the bigger picture," Rafa Benitez said at the pre-match press conference.
"Last season, we were the best team in the bottom half and we hope to do the same again if we can.
"You can be a little bit better on the ball, so I am not happy with how we gave the ball away, but at the same time, we have to understand what we have and how we can maximise what we have.
His fellow countryman Emery remained cryptic about the prospect of Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang starting together up-front.
"It’s a process to know the combination on the pitch, with different players but I need and I want to start in the level, 11 players with good performances and also, we need in the balance of players, when the team needs to work in the pitch to help the team to find the win, to stay with the performance.
“The reason is that I am very happy with the last two victories in the Premier League and also with the performances and I want to push every player to be okay to help the team if for one minute, 30 minutes or half time or 90 minutes.”
Newcastle will likely do what Rafa Benitez teams do best, and that is to invite pressure and defend as a unit.
They've made life very difficult for Spurs, Chelsea and City, but all those teams eventually had too much quality and cracked the code of the defence.
Arsenal won't have much space to run into, which is something which the likes of Aubameyang and Lacazette thrive on.
Still, there is Özil's ability to make that killer pass at any given time. Although Arsenal are very vulnerable to the counter, especially with Torreira likely not starting again, it's hard to look past them to take the three points back to London.
Still, with Benitez' ability to parallel-park that bus down to the inch between the posts, and Arsenal's poor away record (the win v Cardiff was the 2nd win in ten away games), a 1-0 Newcastle win wouldn't be surprising. But, again, the difference in talent is simply too big.
PREDICTION:
Newcastle United 1-3 Arsenal
PREDICTED TEAMS:
Newcastle United: Dubravka, Yedlin, Lascelles, Fernandez, Clark, Dummett, Kenedy, Shelvey, Diame, Perez, Rondon
Arsenal: Cech, Bellerin, Mustafi, Sokratis, Monreal, Guendouzi, Xhaka, Ozil, Ramsey, Aubameyang, Lacazette
ODDS (SUBJECT TO CHANGE):
Newcastle 10/3
Draw 29/10
Arsenal 19/20
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