I don’t know quite how or when it came about exactly but there seems to exist a measure of bad blood between these two sides.
It was never thus before the Saudi takeover but the influx of money into the north east seems to have ignited a certain strident aggression that simply didn’t exist before. No club seems to have felt that more than Arsenal.
Even when they were useless, Newcastle was never a simple away trip but now it is an altogether more difficult proposition. Add in the enmity they hold for Mikel Arteta’s men and you have a nightmarish fixture on your hands.
I expect no less today. It’s going to be physical and it’s going to be full-blooded.
Thankfully, this incarnation of Arsenal is up to that particular task. They seldom shy away from a confrontation now and I would expect them to be well-prepared for it this time around. Apart from anything else, they should have plenty of motivation themselves having been so hard done-by at St James’s Park last time around.
What Arsenal must not do, however, is to be sucked into the sort of antics that will give the referee a chance to make yet another decisive intervention. We’re having awful luck this season when it comes to officiating and I can well imagine a match like this one will provide the sort of tempestuous tackling and off-the-ball silliness that could see someone dismissed. Invariably, that means an Arsenal player as the focus seems to be on our players much more than any other side. Discipline is going to be paramount.
We’ve played too much football already this season with 10 men and we simply can’t afford to keep doing it. The manager knows that and I think he will stress that very clearly to the team. There is no legislating for the officials, however.
If we can keep all 11 on the pitch for the entirety of the match, we’re in with a good chance but I think we’re going to need to see more positive intent than we have of late. For any number of reasons, I think we’ve seen too much passivity and caution in our football and that has cost us. We’ve dropped points from winning positions on three occasions already in this campaign and it’s not something we want to become a trend. Even if we do get in front early, we need to keep pushing.
I think the midfield is going to be a key area, as it was against Liverpool. We dominated proceedings in the opening 45 last week and I think we have all the tools to do so again this afternoon. Mikel Merino and Declan Rice were absolutely formidable and the work of Kai Havertz and Leandro Trossard should not be underestimated either. Injuries notwithstanding, I would expect to see the same setup today.
The only question mark for me is around Thomas Partey, who has been fantastic so far this campaign. If Ben White and Gabriel are fit, that frees the Ghanian up for a midfield berth again. Given how well he is playing, will that mean Merino is dropped or will the manager opt for a beefy midfield three? Away at St James’s, I’d have no problem with the three but it will be interesting to see how the manager views it.
What’s clear is that we’re going to need all the legs we can get because there will be some hard yards to cover. While I think the early kick-off stands to our advantage (it tends to take the edge off an atmosphere), you can be certain that, from a physical perspective, we will need to be at our best for the full 90. How the manager deploys his bench could also play a part.
Make no mistake, no side will enjoy travelling to St James’s this season and plenty will drop points. If we’re able to come away with something, to right the wrongs of last season, it will be huge for our Premier League campaign. The Magpies have been inconsistent so far this season so this might be a good time to head north. Time will tell.
Above all, let’s hope this is a match that’s settled by the teams and not by the officials because we’ve had more than enough of that already. Come on you Gunners!
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