Newcastle vs Arsenal preview, team news, tickets and prediction

Arsenal can maintain the pressure at the top of the table and keep alive their fading title hopes with a win over Newcastle United at St James’ Park on Sunday afternoon.

The Gunners have enjoyed an excellent season and were the surprise Premier League leaders for much of the campaign. At one stage, they were favourites to win their first title in almost 20 years having opened up an eight point advantage over Manchester City. However, that lead has disappeared over the past few weeks after Arsenal hit a sticky patch.

First, they blew a two-goal lead at Liverpool to draw 2-2 before seeing history repeat itself at the London Stadium just days later. Having raced into a 2-0 lead, Arsenal hit the self destruct button once again and allowed West Ham back into the game just before half time via a penalty. Bukayo Saka then wasted a golden chance to restore Arsenal’s lead after missing a penalty and it proved costly as the Hammers salvaged a 2-2 draw.

The Gunners then found themselves 3-1 down at home to bottom club Southampton. Two late goals made it 3-3 but Arsenal couldn’t find a winner so dropped another two points. Then came a painful 4-1 defeat to Manchester City in the ‘title decider’ at the Etihad Stadium. Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland blew Arsenal away to swung the title into City’s hands.

Having taken just three points from four games, Arsenal saw their lead at the top disappear and they slipped to second as the Man City juggernaut just kept winning. The Gunners temporarily regained top spot with an impressive 3-1 win over Chelsea in midweek. It was important for Arteta’s side to get back to winning ways and they did it in style as they really could have thrashed Chelsea by five or six goals at the Emirates. However, they slipped back to second after City beat West Ham on Wednesday night and they could find themselves four points behind their rivals [who also have a game in hand] if they beat Leeds United on Saturday.

So the pressure is going to be on Arsenal to get a result at Newcastle, but that isn’t going to be easy as the Magpies are also enjoying a superb campaign in the North East. Eddie Howe has done a fantastic job at St James’ Park and they are firmly on course to finishing in the top four this season. A comfortable 3-1 win over Southampton last weekend came off the back of a 4-1 win over Everton and a 6-1 thrashing of Tottenham so Newcastle come into this game in fine form.

That run has seen Newcastle move to third in the table – two points above Man Utd and six ahead of Liverpool with a game in hand – so they’d have to really blow up now to miss the chance to return to the Champions League next season. Arsenal know first hand how tough this game will be as they lost in this fixture last season, which all but ended their hopes of finishing fourth, so they won’t be taking this task lightly.

Tickets

Arsenal will take on Newcastle United at St James’ Park on Sunday afternoon, kicking off at 4.30pm. The game is certain to be a sell out as Newcastle’s passionate home support will be getting right behind their team. Arsenal are also one of the best followed clubs on the road with their away allocation always selling out, so it’s going to be difficult to get hold of tickets through official channels.

Supporters will still be desperate to get their hands on a ticket for the game and you might have more luck using a reputable ticket reselling site such as Seatsnet. For those who can’t attend the game live, you can still watch all the action as it happens on Sky Sports.

Team news

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has confirmed that the club will once again be without influential defender William Saliba for the trip to Newcastle this weekend. The Frenchman injured his back against Sporting Lisbon in the Europa League last month and Arsenal initially hoped it wasn’t serious. However, it’s been far more troublesome than anticipated and Saliba has been forced to watch from the sidelines for the past seven games, and he’ll miss out once again this weekend.

Gabriel Magalhaes is also a doubt for Arsenal after limping out of their win over Chelsea with an ankle injury. The Brazilian international will be assessed at London Colney on Saturday before a decision is made, but he’s hoping to be passed fit to start in defence. Rob Holding and Jacub Kiwior are on stand by to start as the centre-back pairing if Gabriel is ruled out.

Takehiro Tomiyasu is a certain absentee for the Gunners as he’s been ruled out for the rest of the season with a knee injury while Mohamed Elneny is also ruled out with a knee problem. Gabriel Martinelli is expected to be recalled after being benched against Chelsea while Thomas Partey could also come back in for Jorginho in midfield.

Newcastle on the other hand have no fresh injury worries but they’ll be without Jamaal Lascelles as he’s still nursing a calf injury. Emil Krafth is also out with a knee injury but Allan Saint-Maximin could return from a thigh issue that’s hampered him lately. Sean Longstaff will also be assessed due to an ankle injury.

Prediction

Arsenal know they cannot afford to drop any more points if they want to stand a chance of beating Man City to the title and they could be four points behind by the time they kick off on Sunday, which would only add to the pressure.

However, this is going to be an extremely tough game for the North Londoners as Newcastle are a top side these days and are also in desperate need of points to boost their chances of securing a top four finish this season.

Arsenal’s defence has been poor in the absence of Saliba, as they’ve yet to keep a clean sheet while he’s been out, so Newcastle will be confident of causing them plenty of problems. However, the Gunners have one of the most potent attacks in Europe so they should also pose a real threat in front of goal for the hosts.

We’re expecting an entertaining game at St James’ Park between two excellent teams. But in the end, we feel the points will be shared, so we’re sitting on the fence and predicting a 2-2 draw. A point wouldn’t be the worse result for the Magpies, but unfortunately for Arsenal, a draw would probably end their title hopes. Newcastle 2-2 Arsenal