Newcastle United vs Arsenal

BPL 2018-19 – Newcastle United vs Arsenal Match Preview

Newcastle host Arsenal at St James Park in what is expected to be a very interesting game! Although it’s not been a good start to the season for Newcastle, they have already played 3 of the big 6 and stayed competitive against all Spurs, Chelsea and Man City losing all 3 of those matches 2-1. Newcastle are normally a tough team to beat at home and Arsenal will be put to test. Arsenal have recently picked up some good form especially going forward and will be looking to win their third straight game coming off the international break.

Key Facts

Both of Newcastle’s games this season at home have been played against the big 6. They lost to Arsenal’s London rivals Spurs and Chelsea by the same scoreline 1-2.

Newcastle are yet to win a game this season. They’ve only picked up one point, sit 18th in the league and have been knocked out of the cup by Championship’s Nottingham Forest.

Arsenal have won 10 of the previous 11 league meetings against Newcastle. They lost the most recent one however 2-1 at Newcastle.

Arsenal, have a really good record playing Newcastle away. Before they met here last season, Arsenal went 9 unbeaten winning 5 against Newcastle here.

Although, historically Arsenal have been a good away side, in 2018 they’ve been pretty awful playing away from home. They’ve only won 2 away games in 2018 as a whole against Huddersfield to end last season and most recently at Cardiff.

Both Lacazette and Aubameyang got on the scoresheet for Arsenal in their recent win. It was the first goal of the season for both of them and they will be coming into this game full of confidence after starting together for the first time this season.

3 of the 4 Newcastle’s games hit an over 2.5 goals mark while 3 of the 4 Arsenal’s games hit an over 2.5 goals mark as well, and actually all 3 of those overish games hit an over 3.5 mark too for Arsenal.

Arsenal have scored 8 goals this season, but have also conceded 8 themselves. Deadly attack, poor defence.

Team News

Newcastle United: Newcastle have been pretty much injury riddled to start this season which is one of the reasons why they’ve struggled to pick up points. For this game, there is optimism that Jonjo Shelvey returns for the team which could be massively given his creative ability and although Newcastle have been managing to find goals, their attack isn’t clicking the way it should and it’s because of Shelvey not being there. Matt Ritchie is still unlikely to feature after missing the City game therefore we will probably see Kenedy and Perez on the wings like against City. Manquillo is very doubtful which doesn’t really affect the team because Yedlin will most likely start at RB anyway after starting the season pretty well. Florian Lejeune is still out. Rondon is expected to lead the line again as he’s done for most of this season although Joselu could make a push for that starting spot given his decent start to the season with 2 goals. We can expect Newcastle to definitely have a go at Arsenal’s defence and not see what they did against Chelsea in their previous home game where they literally surrendered possession for 90 minutes. If Shelvey plays then that could be just the boost that Newcastle needed to win their first game. It won’t be easy but Newcastle totally have a shot in this match.

Arsenal: Koscielny, Kolasinac and Maitland-Niles are all still out for Arsenal. As for starting line-up we can expect Lacazette and Aubameyang to partner up top again after they linked up phenomenally in the most recent game against Cardiff where both of them got on the scoresheet for the first time this season. The pace of those two can cause problems for any team and it would just be strange if Emery elected not to start the two strikers. Ozil has also returned to the squad against Cardif and did pretty well which should earn him a place in the starting line-up again this weekend. In terms of midfield, we once again saw Lucas Torreira come off the bench and change the game with an assist that won Arsenal the game and it’s only a matter of time now until he gets to start however it may not happen for this game because he picked up an injury on international duty, it’s a minor injury but he could be out for this weekend’s match and Arsenal may have to go with a Xhaka Guendouzi Ramsey midfield again. Cech/Leno debates are also heating up, for now we’re still going to think that Cech will start. Expect Arsenal to be on the front foot in this game. Defensively this team is still very suspect however.

Betting Tips and Predictions

Tough game to predict this. Newcastle are a very tough nut to crack at home and yes they have lost to both Spurs and Chelsea, but they were not an easy team to beat in either of those games. They were very unlucky not to snatch a point against Spurs and then lost to an 87th minute winner to Chelsea. Plus Jonjo Shelvey will most likely return for them which could be a HUGE morale boost for Newcastle. Arsenal are still a little suspect themselves, they have won 2 straight but could count themselves lucky against West Ham and Cardiff. This game shapes up to be an entertaining one. Goals overs is what we’re looking at. Over 3.5 at 2.80 is worth the try as it has value and its mostly based off Arsenal. We know Arsenal will get a couple of goals, the Ozil Lacazette and Aubameyang trio is absolutely deadly, it showed against Cardiff and it should show again if they click. Newcastle themselves have scored against every big 6 team they’ve played this season and all of Spurs Chelsea’s and City’s backlines are stronger than Arsenal’s so we can’t see why Newcastle can’t score a goal or a two especially if Cardiff managed to put a couple past Arsenal. We’re looking at a 2-2 game here, possibly a 3-2 win for either side if they can get a goal late. Lacazette to score anytime is a bet worth a look in terms of goal scorer markets.

Match Odds (TonyBet)

Newcastle United Win – 4.00

Draw – 3.85

Arsenal Win – 1.90

KICK OFF – 15th September 2018 – 3pm UK Time