Match Preview: Newcastle United v Arsenal; Another Opportunity for Development

The Premier League returns – thank goodness. And with the return of the Premier Lague, Arsenal look to continue to build upon the foundation new boss, Unai Emery is trying to establish. This week they have another opportunity for development, but it won’t be easy as they head to St. James’ Park to face off against Rafa Benitez’s Newcastle United squad.

This week’s opponent was a 2-1 loser at the Etihad nearly a fortnight ago when the faced off again Manchester City. For a match that looked to maybe give Pep problems it looked fairly comfortable for the home side.

However, as this is Arsenal facing off against the barcodes, we can’t expect anything to be too easy.  Arsenal are still very much a work in progress and while we have won two in a row including one on the road, we still look every bit a team trying to find itself under Emery.

Our good friend @JokmanAFC wrote an excellent piece that looked at the tough start Arsenal had to endure but showed how Emery’s influence is slowly starting to seep into the squad on a week-to-week basis.

Jok covers such things as style of play and tactical set up right down to substitutes and our overall training approach. Given how ingrained Wenger and his ways were at Arsenal its going to take time for this change to become readily apparent.

All over social media we’ve seen ad naseum how in Pep’s first season he looked like he wouldn’t be normal Pep and would fall victim to the Premier League. However, a year later the Premier League fell victim to Pep. Even Jurgen Klopp’s gengenforce spent 18 months stuttering and starting. The point is we should expect the same for Arsenal.

Arsenal should benefit from the lack of involvement in this last round of international friendlies or what ever that new UEFA Euro league thingy is. Players looked to stay behind and work with Emery as well as enjoy some time off.

This all brings us to our trip to Tyneside. We are a team as we’ve mentioned still trying to work out all the kinks of this new system and therefore we should expect that Rafa’s Newcastle could give us issues.

Against both Chelsea and City, Newcastle set up to play a narrow 5-4-1. Even though they tried to deny space out wide, the fullbacks had a tendency to tuck in narrowly and leave large areas of the space open and available to attack.

In all 4 of the matches we’ve played so far, Arsenal like to get width from the fullbacks driving forward and two of the forwards tucking in to support whoever is playing the 9 position. Against both City and Chelsea, we saw a myriad of wasted chances from just such a use of width and the crack back/crossing passes with an open runner coming from the central area.

In such a defensive-minded set up it would be very hard to see where the Newcastle threat is going to come from but it’s likely to be an all too familiar foe for Arsenal – direct play and set pieces. Against both City and Chelsea this is what they looked to.

Newcastle defensive set up v Chelsea

In attack they like to switch to a 3-4-3 with Rondon, Murphy and Ritchie playing close to each other. The fullbacks would altogether bypass the midfield and look to play the ball to Rondon who would win the ball and try and set up the other two Newcastle forwards.

Set piece wise, we know we’re weak. Our defenders sometimes lack the mental-focus to stay switched on and cut out mental errors. We’ll need to know that this is an area we can be got and have to prepare for it.

The five at the back really presents and interesting issue for Arsenal and I am curious to see how it prompts changes from Emery. With such a narrow, midfield-denying set up it doesn’t feel like the right kind of match for Mesut Özil. Its set up to deny him what he’s best at, finding the gaps between the MF and defensive lines. Could we see the German playmaker sat down?

Honestly, I doubt it. Even at his worst he still offers us creativity in attack and the ability to see a pass to someone that no one on our team has. What Emery has to do is find a way to create pressure on the back 5 that forces them deeper into their defensive third and creates space for Özil to operate in.

Additionally, maybe if we see a lot of joy through wide play, Rafa may blink and try and deny that by playing wider and stretching his back line which could open up space for the German to play in.

His isn’t the only selection headache Emery has. What about the rest of the midfield. Guendouzi continues to excel but shows moments of his inexperience that cost Arsenal. Xhaka is an enigma wrapped in an enigma, wrapped in an enigma (and so on.) Then there is Aaron Ramsey who has yet to put his name to a new deal.

We’re relatively healthy and these are good problems to have but at some point, Emery has to try and find an XI that can work consistently week in and week out. We have another month of matches before the next international break and there are still plenty of winnable matches. But the added complexity now is the addition of the Europa League and the League Cup (whatever it’s called this year.)

Newcastle even at home will set up to deny us space and in the final third. They will look to frustrate any creative play we try to execute. On the counter, their direct play will look to take advantage of Arsenal’s Achilles’ heel, defending. Still, a patient Arsenal, can get a positive result on the road and look to re-establish itself as one of the top teams in England.

What Does the Coach Say? (courtesy Arsenal.com)

In the process, and firstly we need to win and I think it is very important that in the last match we won. Our aim away at Newcastle on Saturday is to keep improving things and continue to create our idea, build up our spirit on the pitch, individually and collectively, and it is clear this process is one process. Saturday is another step we can do, it will be difficult but I want to continue [to show] our personality on the pitch and impose this personality on the opposition and to find the win.

Players to Watch
Arsenal. Hector Bellerin. If Newcastle adopt their narrow defensive set up, Hector’s attacking ability would be a big advantage to Arsenal.

Newcastle. Solomon Rondon. Question is whether he will start having only gotten back to Newcastle on Thursday. If he does, the inform striker, can be a potential headache for Arsenal’s center backs.

Probable Lineups

Arsenal’s 4-2-3-1 vs Newcastle 5-4-1 (click to enlarge)

Injuries and Suspensions
Arsenal: Koalsinac (knee) Koscielny (knee) Maitland-Niles (tibula), Jenkinson (ankle)

Newcastle: Ritchie (knee – fitness test), Shelvey (thigh – fitness test), Manquillo (ankle – fitness test), Lejeune (ACL)

Match Officials
Referee: Lee Probert (2M 9Y 2R)
Assistants: Simon Beck, Adrian Holmes
Fourth official: David Coote

Broadcast Information
UK: Highlights on MOTD/Audio Arsenal.com 15.00 BST
US: NBC Sports Gold 10:00AM EST

Match Facts (courtesy BBC.co.uk)

• Newcastle have only beaten Arsenal twice in 23 meetings in all competitions (D5, L16).
• However, the Magpies won the last meeting 2-1 at home in April, and could win back-to-back league games against Arsenal for the first time since 1996.
• Arsenal have won just two of their last 10 Premier League away games (D1, L8).
• However, they could win consecutive Premier League away matches for the first time since May 2017.
• The Gunners’ eight league goals this season have been scored by eight different players, including an own goal by West Ham’s Issa Diop.
• Mesut Ozil has registered two goals and one assist in three Premier League games against Newcastle, but is yet to play at St James’ Park.
• Alexandre Lacazette has five goals and two assists from his last five Premier League starts.

YAMA Predicts
Newcastle 1 – 2 Arsenal