The Emirates await – Arsenal v Newcastle preview | OneFootball

Welcome to the Arsenal v Newcastle preview.

Sunday 18th May – 4.30pm kick-off.

Newcastle United have the opportunity to reach the dizzy heights of second in the Premier League table this weekend, when we visit an Arsenal team that have already been taken apart by the Toon on three separate occasions this term.

The race to finish in the Champions League places is set to go right down to the last minute of the season with only six points separating second and seventh, meaning any team in those positions could still finish outside the top five.

The Toon have given themselves a great chance of qualification with a fine win last weekend, whilst Arsenal would be devastated to miss out having challenged for the title the vast majority of the season.

Newcastle United’s form since December has been unreal and fired them all the way from twelfth up to third in the league. The past six matches have seen wins over Man Utd, Crystal Palace, Ipswich and Chelsea, as well as a draw with Brighton and a defeat away to Aston Villa. We’ve scored sixteen goals and conceded six. We currently sit third in the league and will end the weekend second or third, unless our goal difference takes an absolute battering causing us to slip behind Chelsea and Villa who are level on points with the Toon.

Arsenal are not having the best of times in the Premier League at present. They’ve drawn four, won one and lost one of their past six matches. The seven points gained in this sequence has seen them slip away from being title contenders to nervously looking over their shoulder to ensure they finish top five. They’ve scored eleven goals and conceded eight. They’ll also end the weekend second or third in the league – hopefully third!

Last time out

The Toon hosted Chelsea last weekend in the biggest league game of the season and couldn’t have dreamed of a better start. Just under two minutes were on the clock when Murphy sent the ball across the face of goal for Tonali to finish at the Leazes End and send St James’ Park delirious! This was absolutely perfect and cranked an already memorable atmosphere up even further. Newcastle took the game to their opponents throughout the rest of the half but couldn’t find a second goal to settle the nerves. Chelsea’s frustrations got the better of them and on thirty-six minutes, Nicolas Jackson let his team down when he was sent off for a senseless, brutal forearm smash into the face of Sven Botman. The lack of attacking options from the bench would cost Chelsea dear. If NUFC thought that the second half would be a breeze then they would be in for a rude awakening. The ten men of Chelsea showed much more attacking intent than earlier in the match and pushed for an equaliser throughout the half. Thankfully, Dan Burn and Bruno combined in injury time to make the points safe with a well-taken goal that had Toon fans all over the world celebrating a huge step towards Champions League football. A 2-0 win in a real six-pointer was an absolutely brilliant result for NUFC who are now within touching distance of sealing a place in the top five.

Arsenal travelled to champions Liverpool and found themselves 2-0 down early on. They showed great character to claw their way back into the game with second-half goals from Martinelli and former Toon man Mikel Merino. Less welcome for the Gunners was a second yellow card for Merino soon after his goal, meaning he’ll be banned for this weekend’s clash.

Stat attack!

Newcastle have played and beaten Arsenal three times this season, scoring five times without conceding.

Newcastle’s 2-0 success in the League Cup ended a run of thirteen trips to Arsenal without a win.

Arsenal are Newcastle United’s most frequent opponents. This will be the one hundred and ninety-seventh meeting between the sides.

Newcastle have beaten Arsenal in five of their past eight meetings.

Memorable match

At the end of the 96/97 season Newcastle travelled to Arsenal with both teams vying for a second place finish (sound familiar?). A scrappy game of few chances was decided just before half time when Asprilla’s corner was picked up by Darren Peacock on the edge of the box and fired back into the danger zone for Robbie Elliott to bury a close range header. Keith Gillespie was brought on early in the second half to shore things up but lasted just twenty-seven minutes before being dismissed for two bookable offences. Thankfully ten-man United held on for a priceless victory that went a long way to ensuring we’d pip the Gunners to a coveted place in the Champions League (same again this weekend would do very nicely indeed!) Final Score: Arsenal 0-1 Newcastle.

Played for both

Malcolm Macdonald – Some of our older readers may well have fond memories of this legendary number nine. ‘Super Mac’, as he was affectionately known by fans, kick-started his Toon career with a hat-trick against Liverpool, in his first appearance at St James’ Park. What was to follow has gone down in Toon Army folklore! Scoring one hundred and twenty-one goals in just two hundred and twenty-seven appearances has him up there with the best of the best in NUFC history. Perhaps his finest hour came in the 1974 FA Cup Semi-Final when he scored two second half goals to defeat Burnley 2-0 at Hillsborough and send United to their first FA Cup final in nineteen years. Unfortunately, he couldn’t repeat this feat at Wembley as a tame performance was punished by a 3-0 defeat to a Kevin Keegan-inspired Liverpool. There was uproar when he was sold to Arsenal for a third of a million pounds in 1976. He went on to score forty-two goals in eighty-four league games for the Gunners.

Andy Cole began his career by playing one league game for Arsenal before being loaned to Fulham and then sold to Bristol City. Kevin Keegan broke the club’s transfer record by splashing out £1.75 million for the striker in 1993. This is a number nine who’s record stands up to anyone else’s – a whopping sixty-eight goals in eighty-four matches before being controversially sold to Man United in January 1995 for a British record transfer fee. Some fans were so angry at the sale that they turned up at the stadium demanding answers which Keegan provided, famously standing on the steps to explain his decision. King Kev would go on to sign both Sir Les and Alan Shearer as the entertainers came ‘so close’ to being champions of England for the first time since 1927 but that’s a story for another day.

Sol Campbell was something of a legend at Arsenal having run down his contract at rivals Spurs to join the Gunners on a free transfer. He’d go on to win a number of trophies and even grabbed a goal in the 2006 Champions League final. He played a handful of games for NUFC in 2010 but it’s safe to say he was well past his best when donning the famous black and white.

Managers

Eddie Howe after a 2-0 home victory over Chelsea:

“The first half we were really, really good. The sending-off changed the game, and with the scoreline it became a tricky second half for us mentally. The message was to attack but on the pitch it felt different. Chelsea changed and tweaked things and made it difficult for us tactically, so congratulations to them, but we hung in there.The second half was stressful. I was pleased with how we defended. Nick Pope made two magnificent saves for us and you can’t forget the part he played today.

“The way we play has to fit the culture of the club and what the supporters want. They want fast, attacking, aggressive football; that’s perfect for me. I love to try to give them what they want. The start today was amazing – the atmosphere was everything we hoped it would be and then the players delivered. The crowd were up for the game, the atmosphere was amazing”

Mikel Arteta surprisingly didn’t blame the ball for his team’s dropped points in a 2-2 draw against Liverpool and said:

“There were a lot of parts, especially defending. The standards that we have and the errors after we gave the ball away. Very far off it. Really upset, yeah we had a reaction. I hate reaction I like action. I was really really upset with what I saw in the first twenty-five, thirty-five minutes.”

As it is an away match, Newcastle United fans will not be collecting opposite the Gallowgate end, for the food bank. However, you can still help out and all online cash donations are very much appreciated. For further info and/or to donate to the food bank online go HERE.

This is a massive match! Victory for the Toon would see us in second place with just one match of the season remaining. There is a feel-good factor on Tyneside right now with the League Cup trophy in the cabinet and a chance to battle the elite of Europe next season. Eddie Howe is doing a tremendous job and I think another positive result is on the cards this weekend as the Toon grab a well-earned away point. Final score Arsenal 1-1 Newcastle.