Arteta’s team out to rewrite the St James’ Park narrative

By Danong 

Arsenal head to the North East this weekend to take on Newcastle United at St James’ Park.

Newcastle haven’t made the brightest start to the league campaign.

With just one win from five matches, three draws, and a defeat, it’s fair to say the Magpies aren’t flying high.

Arsenal, on the other hand, are on a solid run. Three wins, a narrow defeat against Liverpool and a frustrating stalemate with Manchester City suggest they’re building momentum.

Judging by form alone, the edge goes to Arsenal. But Newcastle at home are notoriously unpredictable.
This won’t be straightforward.

St James’ Park has long been one of Arsenal’s toughest away days. The Gunners haven’t scored more than two goals there since 2011. And since their 2-0 win in May 2023, they’ve suffered consecutive 1-0 defeats on Tyneside.

It’s a tricky fixture, and Mikel Arteta will need his side firing on all cylinders.

He’ll be frustrated to lose the bright spark of Noni Madueke to injury, but Saka's return to fitness is will add further power and trickery on the right hand side.

Martin Odegaard’s return to training offers a timely boost. Arteta might keep him on the bench and release him later on along with his finishers...

With Piero Hincapié, Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz also sidelined, here’s a potential XI Arteta could deploy to outmuscle Newcastle’s physical approach:

Raya  
Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori  
Zubimendi, Rice, Merino  
Saka, Gyökeres, Eze

Some might argue Eze belongs in a central role, but even from the left wing, he can drift inside, allowing Calafiori to overlap and stretch the pitch.

A midfield trio of Merino, Rice and Zubimendi offers Arteta his most physically dominant setup, one capable of going to war with Newcastle’s physically imposing midfield.

Creativity shouldn’t be a concern. With Saka and Eze supplying quality in the final third, Arsenal should have enough to carve out goalscoring chances.

Five points adrift of Liverpool, who just lost 2-1 to Crystal Palace, Arsenal can’t afford to drop points when the gap is there to be narrowed.