When talking about remarkable turnarounds in form, Arsenal aren’t the only side catching the eye this season.
Newcastle United, so long in the footballing wildnerness, find themselves in the Premier League’s top three and absolutely flying, with nine wins and just a single defeat across 17 games so far this season.
Not since the days of Kevin Keegan and Philippe Albert have fans of the Toon been treated to such rich footballing fare, more accustomed as they are to the bitterness and bemusement of the Mike Ashley era. In fairness, even in their wildest dreams, no Newcastle fan could have expected the turnaround to have been quite so dramatic in such a short space of time.
This is, of course, partly because of the club’s acquisition by the Saudi state and the timely injection of tens of millions into the playing squad and coaching staff. The investment has so far delivered quite remarkable returns given that the majority of the playing squad is still populated by the players Steve Bruce had available to him.
Quite what Eddie Howe will manage when the oil millions really start rolling in should be of great concern to everyone in the league but that is a problem for another day.
For now, Mikel Arteta’s in-form Gunners will have to find a way to re-set themselves for the challenge of a newly resilient and competitive Newcastle side. In years gone by, this fixture would largely have been a formality, a simple win against a disjointed and demotivated travelling side.
Now, they present an entirely different problem, as evidenced by our trip to Tyneside at the back end of last season.
There were many ups and downs for Arsenal fans last season but the trip to St James’s Park stands out among the downest of downs. Despite so much being at stake, the Gunners were truly outplayed and outfought. We barely laid a glove on our hosts for the entire match and proved a deeply disappointing end to a tough season.
I believe that frustration has served in-part as the motivation behind our remarkable up-turn in form and fortune this season and, hopefully, it will fuel our fire when Newcastle visit tomorrow (Tuesday). There is something of a score to settle.
It won’t be easy, though, because this Newcastle side are smarter and better than the side that have visited in recent years. It’s worth baring in mind too, that this will be our third game inside eight days and fatigue is likely to play a part. We have had the luxury of being able to make some early substitutions in our last few games but it is still a punishing schedule and fatigue may yet be a factor.
Despite that, I still expect the manager to stick with the same XI who performed so well against Brighton with a possible tweak or two to accommodate those with a troubled recent history of injury. As important as the match is, it’s not worth losing players to long-term injury, particularly with some huge games on the horizon.
I would like to think, given our recent run of form, that we’d have enough in the locker to see to this Newcastle side but, in football, there is no telling. In the context of this season, a draw wouldn’t be a disaster but every home game is an opportunity that few can afford to pass up.
And, with a squad in such superlative form, there aren’t many who would bet against us at the moment.
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