Can anyone out there play centre half?! Arsenal go into a crunch match with in form Newcastle nursing their wounds a little. Both due to the volume of injuries, and after last week’s bloodied nose at Stoke, the Gunners are in need of points.
Visiting manager Alan Prdew was staring down a cauldron of discontent earlier in the season, as the Magpies got off to a poor start. However, Pardew’s is one of the great lazarus stories of the season, as they have roared back to win 6 of their last 8 matches and have defeated Chelsea and won away at Manchester City in the League Cup.
Wenger will require a similar kind of record to quell the noise of supporter discontent and to rejuvenate Arsenal’s stop start season. Yet once again injuries compromise his plans. ‘I have 24 hours to work out the defence’ he said in this morning’s press conference.
His back four likely picks itself, with Mathieu Debuchy starting his first Premier League match in exactly three months at centre half, against his old club to boot. Hector Bellerin will likely get another chance to dispel last week’s nightmare at Stoke.
Bellerin has started matches away at Dortmund, Stoke City and Galatasaray which is quite the baptism of fire. A home game might suit his attacking qualities a little better and he played well in an unfamiliar left back role on Tuesday evening.
I think this game is set to be a tight and cagey one and you get the sense there could be goals in it. Arsenal’s forwards are beginning to find some goalscoring form, which suggests it’s beginning to click upfront. Much will depend on how they cope at the back, but with the experience of Debuchy, they should in theory make a better fist of this than they did at Stoke. (They could hardly get worse!)
This contest will be shaped by the first goal. If Arsenal can score it and tease Newcastle out, they should have the attacking prowess to give them problems. If Newcastle score it and have something to
Vital Quotes:
Arsene Wenger spoke of his feeling of solidarity with other Premier League managers. Pardew and Wenger have both been the subject of public taunts and Leicester boss Nigel Pearson become embroiled in a row with a supporter during the week.
‘Society wants to win the next game and it’s a permanent tribunal for everyone.
‘Pardew has done a great job this season. You want respect in society and that should apply to everybody. At the moment, there is permanent tribunal from everybody. I have sympathy for every manager who suffers.
‘I played my 180th CL game so that means we can cope with workload. At one point we (Pardew and Wenger) had a problem but we sorted it out. He had problems and got through them with dignity and he’s doing well.
‘I am very thankful for compliments but all I want is to do well for my club. Newcastle had a great result last week and they are going well. But we have won four of five we are on a good trend. They are doing well and are on a good run so it’ll be a good challenge for us.
‘We defended well at Galatasaray and had three clean sheets before Stoke. At Stoke we didn’t defend well. We came back at 5am on Wednesday and we have to just recover at the moment. We played 8 CL games this season.’
Meanwhile Alan Pardew believes Arsene Wenger deserves more respect for the job he has done at Arsenal, ‘The stadium should be named after Arsène. The job he did with that move across from Highbury, when he had all that debt and had to be very careful with his transfer budget, was incredible. It was a miracle that he kept them in the Champions League.
‘The incident at the train station was totally disrespectful,” he added. “I think 90% of Arsenal fans would have been ashamed of that and we could get the backlash of it. The crowd on Saturday will want to show how much they love him. After Sir Alex Ferguson he`s the best manager in Premier League history. José Mourinho hasn`t done enough yet.
‘I think everyone at Arsenal knows Arsène`s done a magnificent job – but all of us managers are on six- or seven-game trials with the media and social media. We have to accept that. Arsène knows instant results are massive, even for someone who has been in the position as long as he has.
‘Arsène`s squad is very strong at the moment and they are playing a slightly more conservative game so I think it will be tight.
‘I`ve had one run-in with Arsène when I was at West Ham and there was a last-minute goal but otherwise he`s been fantastic with me,” he said. “I have nothing but respect for him and I`ve always enjoyed watching his teams.”
Arsenal Team News:
Arsenal are without (deep breath) Laurent Koscielny (calf), Mikel Arteta (calf), Jack Wilshere (ankle), Mesut Ozil (knee), David Ospina (thigh), Aaron Ramsey (hamstring), Nacho Monreal (foot), Calum Chambers (suspended), Abou Diaby and Serge Gnabry (knee). Theo Walcott could return from a groin inflammation.
Arsenal (from); Szczesny, Debuchy, Gibbs, Mertesacker (c), Rosicky, Podolski, Giroud, Walcott, Chamberlain, Alexis, S.Cazorla, Flamini, Chambers, Sanogo, Welbeck, Martinez, Campbell, Ajayi, Bellerin, Maitland-Niles.
Player to watch: Alex Oxlade Chamberlain
Likely to take Ramsey’s place in central midfield. I felt Chamberlain was Arsenal’s best player in Istanbul on Tuesday. He has a great mix of physicality in his upper body and finesse of fit which enables him to change the pace of the game in an instant.
Chamberlain has reached physical maturity at a young age and that doesn’t just mean he is well built, it means he knows how to use his upper body strength to brush off defenders. He’ll have a big role to play on Saturday.
Newcastle United Team News:
Goalkeepers Tim Krul and Rob Elliott are unavailable for Newcastle, so 21 year old Jak Alnwick will play between the sticks for the visitors. Fabricio Coloccini and Rolando Aarons are also struggling to be fit.
Ryan Taylor, David Santon, Gabriel Obertan, Jonas Guitierrez and de Jong are unavailable. Steven Taylor serves a one match suspension, as does Moussa Sissoko.
Newcastle United (from); Coloccini, Williamson, Anita, Cisse, Gouffran, Colback, Ferreyra, Aarons, Perez, Haidara, Cabella, Janmaat, Tiote, Sammy Ameobi, Riviere, Abeid, Alnwick, Woodman.
Player to watch: Jack Colback
Last season proved to be something of a breakthrough season for Jack Colback at Sunderland and he took an incredibly brave move by journeying across the Tyne to Newcastle. However, his performances have been quietly impressive.
Alongside Tiote, Colback will be a combative presence in front of the Newcastle back four. There will be a big onus on Chamberlain and Cazorla to try and break through this black and white Maginot line.
Match Facts & Stats
Olivier Giroud has scored 4 goals in 4 Premier League appearances against Newcastle.
Since the start of last season, Newcastle have been shown more red cards than any other Premier League team (9).
Mathieu Debuchy faces his old club.
Newcastle have won just one of the last 14 league matches against Arsenal (W1 D5 L8) including losing the last five on the bounce.
The Magpies are the only team yet to score in the opening 30 minutes of their BPL matches this season. Their earliest goal this season has come in the 37th minute.
Ref Watch:
Lee Mason will referee.
Match Prediction:
With both sides looking pretty depleted at the back, I think there ought to be goals. I’m going for 2-1 to Arsenal, with Chamberlain and Alexis for Arsenal and Gouffran for Newcastle.
Next Fixtures:
Arsenal are away at Liverpool at 4pm next Sunday. Newcastle play away at Sunderland at 1.30pm on the same day.