Ingenue1 / pixabay
Arsenal’s first game after the international break will be against floundering Newcastle United. After an important 3-2 over Cardiff City, Unai Emery and Arsenal have a chance to capitalize on the down-and-out in Rafa Benitez’s Newcastle.
Arsenal does have to reckon with the dreaded international break, something that affects Arsenal’s squad more than Newcastle’s. However, Arsenal does get a small boost in this regard after the recent retirement of Mesut Özil from the German national team.
Regardless of the international break, Arsenal need three points from the struggling Magpies. Newcastle only has one point from the first four matches, and they even dropped out of the Football League Cup after a 3-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest.
With more momentum on Arsenal’s side, sports betting websites are predicting Arsenal to be heavy favorites. Smart money is on Arsenal, but Newcastle likely know they will be in a long, drawn-out relegation battle, so they could set up for a goalless draw.
But, that has not worked out so far for the Magpies, who have honestly been quite unlucky. They faced Tottenham, Chelsea, and Manchester City and lost by the same 2-1 score line each time. In fact, in all three of those matches Newcastle had a chance with a draw at 1-1, but there defense could not fend off the pressure.
With Newcastle’s questionable defense, it could be the perfect time for Alexandre Lacazette to continue his goal-scoring form. The French forward also was not picked for France duty as the reigning world champions took 22 of the 23 World Cup winners on international duty.
The next game on Arsenal’s fixture list is a return to Europa League against FC Vorskla Poltava. The Ukrainian side is a new opponent for Arsenal, and it only the second Europa League group stage for the side sitting in seventh place in the Ukrainian league.
Similar to Newcastle, the game represents a brilliant opportunity for Unai Emery to show his brand of football against a weaker opponent and signal to the fans that he means business. A continuation of current form will no doubt be unacceptable for Arsenal faithful.
The first Europa League tie will be played at the Emirates, but for the return match against Vorskla the Arsenal faithful will have a long flight to Ukraine to see the match.
But, the Ukraine travel will not present as many problems for Arsenal as when they visit Qarabag in Azerbaijan. Armenian Henrikh Mkhitaryan may miss out on the away match in Azerbaijan as Armenians are not allowed to travel to the country. Azerbaijan and Armenia have no diplomatic relations and do not recognize each other’s statehood.
However, with matches against Vorskla and Qarabag in the less important Europa League, Emery may choose to rotate the squad and test players in the competition.
After Petr Čech’s shaky start to the season, Emery may opt to start new signing Bernd Leno in goal. Other Premier League goalkeepers have expressed sympathy with Čech’s plight, but it is only a matter of time before Leno gets his chance. Two winnable matches against lesser opponents could be a great venue for the German keeper to get his feet wet in an Arsenal shirt.
The away day at St James’ Park and the home match against the seventh placed team in Ukraine are must-have results for the Gunners. If Emery comes up short, specifically against struggling Newcastle, he will be testing the patience of Arsenal fans.
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Another 10 minutes of my life I’ll not get back
Surely it would be honourable to alert the unwitting browser that they are about to be exposed to unmitigated betting promotion material.
Instead of simply omitting an authors name,
Very disappointing.
“With more momentum on Arsenal’s side, sports betting websites are predicting Arsenal to be heavy favorites. Smart money is on Arsenal” Why was it necessary to add that part, and why is it that whenever there is a betting advertisement in these articles the author is never displayed? I don’t know why I bother asking, my questions are always ignored on articles like this.
Newcastle away is not an easy match. It is wrong and disrespectful to describe them as weak opponents
In as much as Rafa Benitez’s Newcastle are at the moment floundering in the PL to take only a point from the 12 on offer, but this could lead to deceive Arsenal should the Gunners think they’ll have an easy ride on the Maggipies on Saturday f—ing them to the hilt.
But NO! Arsenal should take caution and become cautioned on how they approach the match so as not to be caught by surprise in the game by Newcastle who have played well in all their last 4 opening matches in the PL with 3 out of the 4 played against big teams this season.
In all the 3 matches Newcastle lost to the big teams so far this season, they lost narrowly and were not disgraced. Therefore. Arsenal should be fully prepared to deal appropriately with any threat that Newcastle could pose to them in the game and thwart it off completely and collect all the 3 points at stake in the match even if it’s by another narrow margin goals scoring win suffered to Newcastle again will still remain 3 points collected by Arsenal.
Although pretty annoyingly superficial , at least these articles are keeping the cogs oiled, without us having to get greased up personally.
It was quite clear from the lack of author, which I noticed after the opening line what this was.
I have to say there is a touch of untold splashed on it though, The Photo. I did have a look at that. Thanks to the editor for that at least.
Might have been good to use a picture of a magpie instead of a lark to tie in with playing Newcastle.
Subliminal messaging! Impressive stuff Ed