The Gunners welcome the Magpies to Emirates Stadium as both Premier League sides go head to head in the third round of the FA Cup fixtures for the 2020/21 season.
Mikel Aretata’s men have found a good patch of form and have now recorded three straight league wins for the first time this season. Three back to back wins against Chelsea, Brighton and West Brom has taken the Gunners to 11th, and just six points away from sixth place after a terrible start.
Newcastle on the under hand are undergoing a massive slump in results and are winless in their last six games, including a shock defeat to Brentford in the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup. Their last win was a 2-1 victory over relegation threatened West Brom in the league nearly a month ago.
Both managers are expected to make several changes to their regular sides in order to rest certain key players ahead of next week’s gruelling Premier League fixtures.
When and Where?
Venue : Emirates Stadium
Date : Saturday, 9th January
Time: 17:30 (GMT)
Team News
Arsenal:
Friday’s game provides Mikel Arteta with a chance to give some minutes to former Athletico Madrid player Thomas Partey in midfield, with the 27-year-old playing just his first game after recovering from a long thigh injury. Brazilian Gabriel Magalhaes has recently recovered from the coronavirus and is in contention but is likely to be rested for the game against Crystal Palace next week.
A number of fringe players including the likes of Cedric, Runarsson, Willock, Ceballos and Eddie Nekatiah are all expected to be handed out starts.
Newcastle:
Club captain Jamaal Lascelles and Ryan Fraser both returned to full training this week, but are both unlikely to be risked for this fixture. Lascelles recently recovered from the virus while Fraser has been suffering from persistent hamstring injuries. 23-year-old winger Allan Saint-Maximin was another one of the players who had picked up the virus in the Newcastle camp and remains unavailable. Similar to Arteta, Steve Bruce will look to rotate key players meaning guaranteed starts for the likes of Dubravka, Jonjo Shelvey, Javi Manquillo and Dwight Gayle.
Predicted Lineup
Arsenal: Runarsson; Cedric, Mustafi, Luiz, Maitland-Niles; Partey, Ceballos; Willian, Willock, Pepe; Nketiah
Newcastle United: Dubravka; Manquillo, Fernandez, Clark, Dummett, Krafth; J Murphy, Shelvey, Hendrick, Almiron; Gayle
Prediction
Arsenal 2-0 Newcastle United
