Arsenal heads to St. James Park to face Newcastle United, hoping to hold on to the advantage in the top four race. Mikel Arteta’s men have no time to lick their wounds following their defeat to bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur. A loss here might be fatal to their top four hopes.
The North London side has an incredible record against Newcastle. In their last seven fixtures in all competitions against the Magpies, they have won them all. Incredibly, they have achieved that without conceding a goal.
Last time out in the league, things couldn’t have gotten any worse for the Gunners. They were essentially out of the contest just half an hour into the North London derby. Harry Kane had already put Spurs ahead when Gunners center back Rob Holding got himself sent off just half an hour into the contest.
Things went little better for Newcastle in their last Premier League fixture. The Magpies came up against a rampaging Manchester City.
Truthfully, Eddie Howe’s men were never in the contest as Pep Guardiola’s side hit The Toon for five.
Newcastle vs Arsenal
When is it? Monday, May 16th, 2022 8 PM UK Time.
Where is it? St. James Park, Newcastle
Who’s in form? Newcastle (WWWLL) Arsenal (WWWWL)
What are the odds? Newcastle (+320) Arsenal (-115) Draw (+280)
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Team News
Arsenal has a few selection concerns heading into this one. Let’s look at who is likely to miss out for Mikel Arteta’s side in their penultimate league match.
Thomas Partey
Thomas Partey is still missing from the first team picture. The Ghanaian suffered a thigh injury at the beginning of last month and that seems likely to count him out for the rest of the season. I got Gunner’s fan’s hopes up the other week when I suggested he might be in line for a return.
I was wrong, and I apologize.
Kieran Tierney
Scottish left-back Kieran Tierney’s season ended rather abruptly. He suffered a knee injury on the training track that seemed innocuous. It turned out to be much more severe, and Tierney had surgery to correct the issue.
Unfortunately, that means we will not see him on the park for Arsenal for the rest of the season.
Gabriel Magalhaes
Brazilian center-back Gabriel went down with an injury in the second half of the London derby. Initially, it seemed to be a minor injury, but reports have emerged recently that he is doubtful for this clash.
Here is what Mikel Arteta had to say about the defender’s injury:
“Gabi is normally not a player who wants to or asks to come off the pitch. He felt something, and hopefully it’s not much. It’s a muscular problem, and we’ll have to assess him.”
Rob Holding
Rob Holding had somewhat of a brain explosion against Tottenham. He let his teammates down after being booked twice in seven minutes in the first half an hour of the crunch fixture. He serves a one-game suspension for that sending-off and will miss the trip to St. James Park.
A defensive injury crisis is developing for Arsenal at the worst possible time. Gunners fans will hope that they can somehow still cling to the fourth spot regardless of that.
Stuart Kavanagh is an up-and-coming sports journalist from Melbourne, Australia. Along with being the owner of the sports and entertainment website thepyrrhic.com, he is also the co-host of the ‘After Extra Time’ podcast. Football mad, he is always down for debate and discussion at @stueyissickofit on Twitter.