Considering Arsenal's injuries and current form could Newcastle get a result tonight?

By Danong and 1970s Gooner 

Arsenal and Newcastle face off at the Emirates Stadium tonight in the first of a two-legged Carabao Cup semi-final clash.

Heading into this bout, Newcastle will be missing Fabian Schar and Bruno Guimaraes due to suspension, while Nick Pope, Callum Wilson, Emil Krafth, and Jamaal Lascelles are all sidelined with injuries.

Arsenal, on the other hand, will be without Ben White, Bukayo Saka, Takehiro Tomiyasu, and Raheem Sterling. Ethan Nwaneri is also expected to be out for the next few weeks with a muscle injury.

Hopefully, Kai Havertz makes the squad. After missing the weekend's 1-1 draw with Brighton, Timber returns to reclaim his spot at right-back, which should see Thomas Partey return to midfield alongside Rice and Odegaard.

Myles Lewis-Skelly deserves to start at left-back, allowing Calafiori to rest and avoid injury given how physical the Magpies are.

Gabriel Martinelli should have another chance at right wing with Leandro Trossard on the left and hopefully Gabriel Jesus continues his resurgence leading the attack.

Coach Mikel Arteta could field this lineup:

Raya
Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Myles Lewis-Skelly
Partey, Rice, Odegaard
Martinelli, Jesus, Trossard

Alternatively Mikel could bring Havertz in the line up and rest Trossard who has been below par recently. Merino could also be rested.

In this scenario Jesus could play on the right wing and Martinelli on the left. Havertz to lead the line.

Raya
Timber Saliba Gabriel Calafiori
Partey Rice Odegaard
Jesus Havertz Martinelli

Whatever line up Arteta chooses Arsenal must be at their best, be competitive and full of fight to overcome an in-form Newcastle.

Make no mistake this is going to be a very tight, highly contested tie and the players need to pick themselves up for it. If they do then we will be going in the return leg with a win.

The Eddie Howe-led side have been on a fantastic run, with six straight wins:

- Newcastle 4-1 Leicester
- Newcastle 3-1 Brentford
- Ipswich 0-4 Newcastle
- Newcastle 3-0 Aston Villa
- Manchester United 0-2 Newcastle
- Tottenham 1-2 Newcastle

Arsenal haven’t won the Carabao Cup (EFL Cup) in 32 years. Isn't it time that changed? Winning tonight would go a long way toward making that dream a reality.

Its also important that Arsenal return to winning ways. 

Arsenal's Mid-Season Review: Unlucky or Not Good Enough?

By Danong

After 20 games, Arsenal sit with 40 points, exactly where they were at this stage last season—a season where we went on a title-winning run but ultimately didn't win the league.

Let's not kid ourselves; we haven't been good enough. But has bad luck contributed to our struggles?

Our Gunners had an insane start to this Premier League season in terms of fixtures. 

We faced demanding away games against Aston Villa, Newcastle, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City, and Chelsea, as well as big UCL games versus Atalanta, PSG, and Inter. 

Liverpool didn't have such a tough run and had easier fixtures to deal with helping them  build momentum.

Injuries have also held us back. Injuries to Mikel Merino, Ben White, Takehiro Tomiyasu and most importantly, Martin Odegaard, have been significant setbacks.

Now, we are also without Bukayo Saka, our best player. Without injuries, especially that of Odegaard, we would have been better off, trust me.

Controversial referee decisions have also held us back. Three awkward red cards cost us all three points against Bournemouth, Brighton, and Manchester City. 

That absurd penalty from the head collision between William Saliba and Joao Pedro on Saturday for the 1-1 draw against Brighton also cost us 3 points.

Liverpool coming out of the traps running and Mohamed Salah putting up Ballon d'Or performances to carry them with his goal-scoring exploits has exposed us.

Apart from Bukayo Saka, we certainly don't have another attacker as influential as Salah. If only we could have another Saka in our team.

Moments like Martinelli being a toe offside versus Fulham, resulting in a winning goal being ruled out, and Gabriel being subbed off versus Liverpool, losing our defensive solidity for that draw, have also played a part.

We haven't had much luck. But there's nothing we can do about that—it's in the past. We just have to continue pushing and strive to be better in the next few months.

Hopefully attacking signings come through and Liverpool's luck and good form is bound to run out.

Notably, we are in a position where some feel that to have a shot at lifting the 2024-25 league title, we need to replicate the run we went on in the last 18 league games of last season. 

With 16 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss, Arteta and the boys unluckily missed out on the title race by 2 points.

With Liverpool dropping points like we know they will (they've started doing so with that 2-2 draw with United), 16 wins should win us the league.

Havertz in contention but will he start and who plays at right back?

By Danong

Arsenal travel to Brighton to take on the Seagulls at the Amex Stadium and really have to win to keep their title hopes alive and put some pressure on Liverpool who play tomorrow.

League leaders Liverpool have a commanding lead in the title race, 6 points ahead of the Gunners with a game in hand.

Brighton had a brilliant start to the season, but have struggled since then. They last won a game in November. Their results since then are disappointing.

For Arteta and the boys, they're unbeaten in 12 games with 9 wins and 3 draws.

Reports suggest Brighton could be without James Milner, Jack Hinshelwood, and Ferdi Kadioglu. Danny Welbeck and new signing Diego Gomez are not expected to feature. Mats Wieffer, Pervis Estupinian and Adam Webster could be available for this fixture.

Arsenal, on the other hand, will definitely be without Bukayo Saka, Ben White, and Takehiro Tomiyasu. Jurrien Timber misses the game due to suspension. 

Kai Havertz, who was out ill when Arsenal played Brentford, could return. Raheem Sterling could make the matchday squad, having returned to training.

The two major decisions to be made are whether to reinstall Havertz in the starting eleven and who will replace Timber at right back.

Arsenal's forward line is producing the goods so far with Jesus and Martinelli both scoring in the away win at Brentford. I would expect that they will continue as will Nawneri who deserves to keep his place in the team.

Havertz may return in the starting 11 as a left sided midfielder so that Partey can play at right back.

Alternatively Arteta may opt to keep Havertz out and continue with Merino in midfield.

I'd expect Arteta to play this starting XI:

- Raya
- Partey, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori
- Rice, Merino, Odegaard
- Nwaneri, Jesus, Martinelli

Arsenal have historically dominated Brighton, with the H2H stats suggesting so:

- Brighton wins: 8
- Draws: 6
- Arsenal wins: 17


I'm feeling confident and predicting a 2-0 win for Arsenal, with an incoming Thomas Partey masterclass at right back.

Is Isak Available This Winter? Newcastle's Transfer Fee Hint

By Danong

The winter transfer window opens this Wednesday and among Gooners there's an expectation that the club will be active.

The Arsenal attack has been highlighted as the area that must be bolstered. Although Arsenal is scoring goals, when the games are tight it's considered that you need an out and out goalscorer to open the doors.

There's a notion that giving this Arsenal team a clinical striker would make them the stuff of nightmares for opponents.

One attacker consistently linked with an Arsenal switch is Alexander Isak.

The Newcastle man is continuing his goal-scoring exploits with the Magpies, having racked up 11 goals and 4 assists in 16 league games.

Interestingly, he's etched his name on the scoresheet in the last 10 Newcastle games. Since Arsenal missed out on him in 2022, failing to hijack his switch to St James' Park, he's scored 42 goals in 68 Premier League games. Such figures clearly show he was meant to play in the Premier League.

The feeling is Arsenal shouldn't need much convincing about his potential swoop, but the issue is whether Newcastle is ready to let him go.

The Toons might have hinted they're open to offers for the Swedish hitman. You're probably wondering when this happened—well, journalist Luke Edwards of the Telegraph recently admitted:

"Newcastle will resist any attempt to sign Alexander Isak and value the striker at more than £150m to ward off potential suitors."

From those comments, one question arises: If you don’t want to sell, why put a price tag on a player? Shouldn't you just tell clubs that you’re not entertaining offers? 

With Newcastle putting a price on Isak and leaking it to a journalist… that screams "make me an offer."

If Arsenal has ever been serious about Isak, they need to try to close that deal this winter. 

In the last two seasons, Manchester City had Erling Haaland to fire them to league glory and Mohamed Salah is carrying Liverpool this season. 

Alexander Isak could be Mikel Arteta's "Salah or Haaland" to fire our Gunners to glory.