Game Week 6 Predictions: Arsenal to win at Newcastle

Arsenal visit Newcastle aiming to cut Liverpool’s lead, while the Magpies seek revival in a high-stakes clash at St James’s Park.

Nick Woltemade and Viktor Gyokeres would both have their say in this mammoth fixture, who will come out tops between the two marksmen? (Photo credit: Sky Sports)

 Newcastle vs Arsenal

St James’s Park

4:30pm

Liverpool finally lost a game in the league this season, leaving Arsenal with a huge opportunity to return to second on the log and cut Liverpool’s lead to just two points.

It’s a season of fine margins with the type of investments clubs made over the summer. It was a weird Saturday for the big boys; Manchester City were held for long before they broke free to beat Burnley silly, but Chelsea lost at home to Brighton, Liverpool lost at Palace and Wolves earned a point against Spurs.

Newcastle is definitely a different kind of challenge to the Gunners. The Magpies played brilliantly in the opening stages of their Champions League game against Barcelona but eventually lost intensity, while they have struggled to impress in the league.

Arsenal’s dream this season is beyond domestic cups. Only a major title would represent value to the investment made in the squad, so a win at St James’s Park should be a norm for a team that wants to wrestle the title from Liverpool and challenge City in the process.

Last weekend, you could look at Mikel Arteta’s cautious approach as the reason the Gunners didn’t beat Manchester City at the Emirates. Arteta respected the former champions too much early on but brought on game changers in the second half who earned a point for Arsenal.

Newcastle is only three points above the drop zone; they’re definitely better than that, and they must improve, starting from this fixture. There are a lot of stories behind this one as well, from incidents in the past to Newcastle’s overwhelming success over Arsenal last season in the League Cup.

Anthony Elanga’s situation at Newcastle is quite hard to understand. He’s a player with a lot of promise; however, the manager prefers to start Jacob Murphy and Anthony Gordon on the flanks, with Harvey Barnes seemingly ahead of the former Forest winger. Will he be starting against Arsenal?

Eberechi Eze got off the mark against Port Vale with a calm goal in midweek; it was his crisp assist that earned Arsenal the point against Manchester City, and you wonder if he would do well to start against Newcastle. Gabriel Martinelli has done brilliantly well off the bench twice; will he start this one?

Bukayo Saka is a definite starter with Noni Madueke injured; Max Dowman could yet again have a role to play as a sub, while Viktor Gyokeres would hope to find the back of the net again. Or would Arteta opt for the safe and defensive Mikel Merino option?

Verdict: Arsenal to win