Newcastle United welcome top-four chasing Arsenal to St James’ Park in the final Monday Night Football of 2021-22 season.
Victory would see Newcastle improve to 12th in the table, whereas victory would see Arsenal reclaim fourth from Tottenham after Spurs beat Burnley on Sunday.
Team News
Ryan Fraser could return for Newcastle after he recovered from a hamstring injury which has sidelined him for the last month.
Jonjo Shelvey (calf), Joe Willock (knee) and Federico Fernandez (Achilles) are ruled out and unlikely to also be available for next weekend’s trip to Burnley.
Jamal Lewis (groin) and Isaac Hayden (knee) remain absent.
Arsenal will be without Rob Holding after he was red carded in the North London derby defeat at Tottenham last Thursday.
Ben White and Gabriel (both muscle) are doubts but Kieran Tierney (knee) and Thomas Partey (thigh) remain absent.
Stat Attack
- Newcastle have lost each of their last seven league meetings against Arsenal without scoring (L7).
- Arsenal have lost just one of their last eight visits to Newcastle (W7, L1), which came in a 2-1 defeat in April 2018.
- There have been five penalty kicks awarded in 53 Premier League meetings between Newcastle and Arsenal, with the Magpies missing one of their three spot-kicks whilst Arsenal scored both penalties.
- Allan Saint-Maximin has been involved in more goals for Newcastle this season than any other player, having delivered five goals and four assists in 33 appearances.
- No Arsenal player this season has produced more Premier League assists than Alexandre Lacazette, who has made seven assists in 28 appearances.
Prediction
With safety officially assured, Newcastle can come into this match without much pressure but a reaction is needed to last weekend’s defensive collapse at Manchester City, especially after a solid first-half where they looked decent on the attack and defended well in terms of pressing and marking.
Eddie Howe though has a decent home record as a manager against Arsenal from his time at Bournemouth, during which the Cherries scored in each of their last four clashes against the Gunners – which has to be a small ominous sign from his perspective that Newcastle can trouble their visitors.
Arsenal meanwhile are coming into this match off the back of a tough defeat at Tottenham who now sit fourth ahead of this match, meaning that Mikel Arteta’s Gunners are under pressure to win here amidst a defensive injury crisis.
If White and Gabriel are ruled out and Arsenal lose here, I wouldn’t be surprised if Holding’s red card at Spurs ends up as the defining moment of the top-four battle but the Gunners have such great form in this fixture that this is surely their match to lose.
Howe’s Magpies however have lost just two of their last 10 home matches and do have players who can deliver if given the right opportunities, so I can foresee a tighter contest than many anticipate but Arsenal simply must win to keep their top-four hopes in their own hands.
Prediction: Newcastle 1-2 Arsenal
Result: Newcastle 2-0 Arsenal
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