Paul Merson and Chris Sutton in disagreement as they reveal Newcastle vs Arsenal prediction

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Arsenal are on the road again, this time for a game against Newcastle United.

St James’ Park is a very difficult place to go to. The atmosphere there is always rocking and it can be intimidating for some players.

Arsenal have won just one of their last three visits to Newcastle United, which is a very poor record. But, the Gunners are more than capable of getting a result there if they are at their best.

Two popular pundits have now revealed their predictions.

Paul Merson and Chris Sutton predict Newcastle vs Arsenal result

Arsenal are going into the game against Newcastle United with a few injury concerns.

The Gunners have been unlucky with injuries since the start of the campaign, but they are still in a decent position now and cannot use that as an excuse.

Martin Odegaard, Riccardo Calafiori and Takehiro Tomiyasu are all ruled out, while there are doubts over the availability of Ben White and Gabriel Magalhaes as well.

That is not ideal, but Arsenal can still put out a very strong team, and we’re sure Mikel Arteta and all his men will go for the win.

Chris Sutton, in his predictions on BBC Sport, wrote: “This is a bit of a grudge match after what happened when Arsenal came to St James’ Park last season and lost to a controversial Anthony Gordon goal.

Newcastle are on a run of five league games without a win, but they have been a little unlucky during that spell. They are creating plenty of chances, but just not scoring enough of them. I worry about Arsenal in the final third too, though, because they are wasteful as well.

“The Gunners really need a win here to cling on to the tail of leaders Manchester City, but my gut feeling is that Newcastle will get something out of this game, and it has got a draw written all over it.”

Sutton’s prediction: Newcastle 1-1 Arsenal

Paul Merson, unsurprisingly, has gone with an Arsenal win. He wrote on Sportskeeda: “This is a huge game for Arsenal. It’s one where you look at and think, ‘Arsenal must win this one’.

“Liverpool face Brighton & Hove Albion this weekend and they already beat them in the Carabao Cup in midweek, so we’re expecting the same result again. You also expect Manchester City to beat Bournemouth so Arsenal cannot afford to slip up.”

He added: “Newcastle beat Chelsea during the cup game in midweek, but I doubt they can back it up with another win on Saturday. Alexander Isak seems to have returned to form and Anthony Gordon is always a threat with his pace.

“But I feel they are too open at the back and good teams can always pick them apart. When they have all their players in good form, Newcastle are a proper team but that isn’t the case at the moment. Arsenal win for me in this one!”

Merson’s prediction: Newcastle 1-2 Arsenal

Mikel Arteta must make at least two changes for Newcastle vs Arsenal

Arsenal put out a strong lineup against Liverpool at the Emirates last weekend, and Arteta’s men should’ve won the game too.

Sadly, that wasn’t meant to be, but we feel two changes to the Arsenal side from last weekend’s game will guarantee a win at St James’ Park.

William Saliba will come back into the side after missing the game against Liverpool. We also want Ethan Nwaneri to start ahead of Leandro Trossard in the number 10 role.

We would like to see Myles Lewis-Skelly get a start too, but the above two changes should be enough for Arsenal to get all three points on Saturday.