It’s Newcastle United vs Arsenal in the Premier League this evening, and here’s our predicted XI.
The Gunners are hoping to bounce back from the defeat against West Ham on Wednesday. We were woeful in that game, and we expect Mikel Arteta to make plenty of changes to his side today.
Predicted Arsenal XI vs Newcastle United
Mikel Arteta named a much-changed lineup in Arsenal‘s defeat to West Ham. It was nowhere near our strongest XI, but that will change for the game at Newcastle United today.
David Raya is expected to come back in for Aaron Ramsdale in goal. We expect Ben White and Gabriel Magalhaes to keep their places in the side, but William Saliba and Takehiro Tomiyasu are likely to come in for Jakub Kiwior and Oleksandr Zinchenko.
In midfield, Fabio Vieira drops out for Martin Odegaard, and Declan Rice comes in to partner Jorginho. With Thomas Partey out, we need the Italian in games like this one.
Our two wide players are obvious for anyone to guess – Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka will both come in to replace Leandro Trossard and Reiss Nelson.
Arteta has a big decision to make up-front. Eddie Nketiah scored a hat-trick in his last Premier League game, but his record away from home is really poor.
So, we think Kai Havertz gets a chance as a number nine, and we’re hoping he’ll do well.
Predicted Arsenal XI vs Newcastle United: Raya, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Tomiyasu, Jorginho, Rice, Odegaard, Martinelli, Havertz, Saka
Subs: Ramsdale, Kiwior, Zinchenko, Elneny, Vieira, Nelson, Trossard, Nketiah
Big game for Havertz
Paul Merson said earlier this week that Kai Havertz is not a midfielder, Mikel Arteta is using him in the wrong position. After seeing how he has performed in the first two-and-a-half months of the season, we have to agree with the former Gunner.
Havertz is under immense pressure at Arsenal. He is currently the most criticised member of the squad, and he needs to step up before he loses even more confidence.
We really think moving Havertz to a number nine role makes sense. He will give us a different dimension in attack, and his aerial ability could become a huge asset for us.
We don’t know if Arteta will use him as a striker today, but wherever he plays, we really hope he steps up and silences some of his critics.
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