Newcastle are back in action tomorrow night as they head to the Capital to take on table-topping Arsenal at the Emirates. Kick Off is 7:45pm on Live on Sky Sports.
After the disappointment of the goalless draw at home to Leeds on New Year’s Eve, Eddie Howe will be hoping the lads can bounce back, but there couldn’t be a much tougher test than this one.
Newcastle, Manchester City, Tottenham and Chelsea all dropped points over the New Year’s weekend, which allowed Arsenal to extend their lead at the top. With everyone below them faltering, Arsenal’s confidence will be higher than ever.
However, if there’s one man who can rally the troops to rise to a challenge, it’s Eddie Howe and I back him to get the lads into the right mindset to take on Arsenal on Tuesday night.
There has been no news of any fresh injuries after the revelation that Matt Targett has a nasty heel injury that will keep him out for a few more weeks. I expect that Howe will bring in Callum Wilson to start this one after sticking with Chris Wood against Leeds didn’t pay off.
I also have a feeling that we’ll see Saint-Maximin in from the off too, replacing Sean Longstaff just to add an extra dimension to the attack and give the Arsenal defence something to worry about. That will see Joelinton move back into the middle of the park where, for me, he’s more effective.
It’s a tough one to call this game, because I know that on our day we can beat any team in front of us, but off the back off such a disappointing performance at the weekend and with Arsenal being in such superb form, I think this might be the game were our unbeaten run comes to an end. I’d obviously love a win, and I’d definitely take a draw, but I’m seeing a narrow victory for Arsenal.
Score Prediction: Arsenal 2-1 Newcastle