Arsenal will take on Newcastle United at the Emirates as Mikel Arteta aims to keep their winning run going and keep pace in the title race.
Arsenal will look to bounce back from the midweek Champions League disappointment and return to winning ways against Newcastle United. The Gunners are eyeing a sixth straight Premier League victory to keep the momentum in the title race.
Mikel Arteta provided some injury updates on key stars during his pre-match press conference. He suggested that Thomas Partey, Gabriel Jesus, and Oleksandr Zinchenko were all close to returning to action. Meanwhile, Takehiro Tomiyasu would still need more time to recover from the problem he returned with from the AFC Asian Cup campaign.
Partey has been missing for over three months but recently resumed full training. A few expected the midfielder to make it to the matchday squad in midweek, although Arteta was cautious enough to allow the Ghanaian more time on the sidelines.
On Partey, Arteta said, “Let’s see. We have another session today and obviously he’s been out for many, many months now and we need to really nail the timing and when he has enough in the tank to compete, but I think he’s very close.”
Meanwhile, Jesus has also missed four games on the trot since scoring a goal and providing an assist in the 2-1 away win over Nottingham Forest. The Brazilian has suffered a minor issue to his knee, and the Newcastle United game may come too soon for his comeback.
Arteta continued his injury update and insisted Zinchenko was not too far from making a return. The Gunners boss said, “It’s the same with Gabby [Jesus] as well; he’s done a few things. Alex [Zinchenko] is not far at all, and Tomiyasu is still a little bit more.”
Fabio Vieira made it to the Porto clash but remained on the bench as an unused substitute. The Portuguese midfielder will want to start building momentum and gain some minutes from here on, as Arteta might thrust him into action should the Gunners have a good lead with many minutes to play on Saturday night.
Regarding the team shape, Arteta might make a minor tweak to the setup, as Jorginho might come in for Leandro Trossard. Despite having an off game in midweek, the Belgian remains one of the in-form attackers at Arsenal at the moment, although the manager has preferred to play the Italian in some of the big games this season.
David Raya will have an identical back-four, including Jakub Kiwior at left-back. Declan Rice might stay at the base of the midfield, with Martin Odegaard and Jorginho on either side. Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Martinelli will continue to form the front three for Arsenal, with decent options on the bench as cover, such as Eddie Nketiah, Emile Smith-Rowe and Trossard.
Predicted Arsenal XI: Raya; Ben White, Saliba, Gabriel, Kiwior; Odegaard, Rice, Jorginho; Saka, Havertz, Martinelli
