Arsenal aim to reclaim their Premier League lead when they host Newcastle United at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday. Manchester City‘s win over Burnley dropped Arsenal to second on goals scored, but with Pep Guardiola’s side in FA Cup action this weekend, Mikel Arteta’s side can retake the lead once more.
Having lost the PL ‘decider’ at the Etihad last weekend, Arsenal have had a week’s rest to lick their wounds, and will fancy their chances against a Newcastle side that have lost their last four games. Worryingly for Arteta, however, Eddie Howe has beaten him in five of the 12 games he’s faced Arsenal as Newcastle boss.
The last time these two teams met was in September, where a late Gabriel Magalhães header granted Arsenal a 2-1 victory at St. James’ Park. We can expect another closely fought contest in London this time around.
Here’s everything you need to know about Saturday’s game.
How to watch:
The match will be shown on Sky Sports Main Event and Premier League in the UK, NBC / Peacock in the U.S., JioHotstar in India and Stan Sport in Australia. You can also follow ESPN’s live updates.
Key Details:
Kick-off time: Saturday, April 25 at 5:30 p.m. BST (12:30 p.m. ET; 10 p.m. IST and 2:30 a.m. AEST, Sunday).
Venue: Emirates Stadium, London.
Referee: Sam Barrott
VAR: Jarred Gillett
Injury and Team News:
Arsenal
Jurriën Timber, D: knock, DOUBT
Riccardo Calafiori, D: knock, DOUBT
Bukayo Saka, F: knock, OUT
Mikel Merino, M: foot, OUT
Newcastle United
Joelinton, M: suspended, OUT
Emil Krafth, D: knee, OUT
Fabian Schär, D: ankle, OUT
Tino Livramento, D: tibia, OUT
Anthony Gordon, F: hip, DOUBT
Talking Points:
Do Arsenal have the mental strength to bounce back?
“It’s not done.”
Declan Rice‘s defiant statement to teammate Martin Ødegaard as the final whistle blew at the Etihad last weekend might point to how Arsenal’s dressing room might reacts. However, with City knocking Arsenal off the top for the first time in over 200 days with their win over Burnley, Arsenal might be staring at a piece of unwanted history. No team has ever finished runners-up in four consecutive seasons in the English top-flight, and Arsenal have to draw every ounce of mental strength for the run in to ensure they are not remembered as perennial bridesmaids.
The Emirates is a hot-bed of anxiety at the moment, and as much as Arteta pleads with the Arsenal fans to get behind their team, this may be one his team will have to get over the line themselves. Manchester City do not play in the Premier League until May 4, by which time Arsenal will have played Newcastle and Fulham.
The potential is there for Arsenal to place the pressure of a six point lead over City, but only if they can deal with their own internal pressure first.
Have Newcastle stagnated under Eddie Howe?
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A fifth-placed finish that guaranteed UEFA Champions League football, a Carabao Cup victory that ended a 56-year wait for a major trophy — the 2024-25 season seems a long way away from Newcastle United right now. A limp 2-1 defeat at home to Bournemouth in their most recent game saw Eddie Howe’s side dip to 14th in the table, and while they are safe from relegation, it’s quite the downfall from last season.
While Newcastle have flirted with greatness, they’ve failed to build on some impressive platforms engineered by Howe, with this season giving the distinct impression that the club have stagnated. Alexander Isak left at the start of the season, and Newcastle risk losing more of their stars this summer, with Anthony Gordon linked with Bayern Munich and Arsenal, and lynchpin Bruno Guimarães‘ future also up in the air.
The club will be without Champions League football next season, so it’s no surprise to see them being picked off, especially as the squad boasts features multiple Champions League-level players. Despite still being mathematically in with a shout for European football next year, Howe’s side look bereft of confidence and unlikely to turn their fortunes around.
Physical game might work against Arsenal
Most encounters between these two teams in the Arteta – Howe era have been bruising contests, with Newcastle finding plenty of success with Guimarães’ and Joelinton bullying Arsenal in midfield. With Joelinton suspended for this game, and Guimarães suffering the effects of an injury-hit season, Arteta might be tempted to overwhelm his opponents physically in midfield this time.
However, his reluctance to rotate in the centre of the park has meant that Declan Rice and Martín Zubimendi are running on fumes. Arsenal have had a week to recover from their game at the Etihad, but now face a spell of five games in 16 days, which includes both legs of their UCL semifinal against Atletico Madrid – which are guaranteed to be physical encounters as well.
Yes, Arsenal did win the reverse fixture on the back of their physical prowess in September (headers from Mikel Merino and Gabriel Magalhães in the last 12 minutes of the game), but perhaps using his squad’s talent on the ball will be better suited for the Emirates.
Goal difference could decide the league, but can Arsenal outscore City?
While Manchester City’s victory over a now-relegated Burnley was expected, Arsenal can consider themselves fortunate that Guardiola’s side could only manage one goal from 3.5xG. Thus, the two sides are now level on goal difference, with Arsenal second in the standing having scored three goals fewer than City.
While the priority for both managers would be to win their remaining five games, given the fixtures involved, there is the very real possibility of the title coming down to goal difference.
Arsenal have built their goal difference on the back of a great defence, but the next five games might call for a return to the flowing football that dominated their earlier title challenges. Kai Havertz was impressive against Manchester City and while he might not be as clinical as Viktor Gyökeres, Arsenal’s attack is far more fluent with the German leading the line.
Arteta will also be counting on Eberechi Eze to display his penchant for late-season goals, with Arsenal requiring all of their attackers to find form sooner rather than later, especially when going up against a free-scoring City side.
What do the numbers say?
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Arsenal have won 12 of their last 13 home league games against Newcastle (12-1-0 W-D-L), with the visitors only scoring once in their last 9 away games at the Emirates in the league.
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With Bukayo Saka in the starting XI, Arsenal’s win percentage this season is 73% in the PL, which drops to 45% without him in the lineup.
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18% of Arsenal’s PL defeats under Arteta have come in the month of April.
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Arsenal are looking to complete a league double over Newcastle for the first time in five seasons.
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No PL team has lost more games (8) since January 25th than Newcastle. Eddie Howe’s side have only won once in their last seven games in all competitions.
