We’re back in Premier League action on Sunday (4.30pm) when we make our longest domestic journey of the campaign by travelling to Tyneside to face Newcastle United.
A tough opening six-game stretch that has seen us face four of last season’s top seven, as well visit Old Trafford and tackle last season’s Championship champions, concludes with this fixture against the Black and Whites as we look to put a run of form together to cut the gap at the division’s summit.
The Geordies won three of their four games against us last season, keeping a clean sheet in all of those successes. Defensively, they remain stubborn, with four clean sheets from five this term, but goals are in short supply on Tyneside as they look to adapt following Alexander Isak’s departure.
Glass half-full or empty?
Only leaders Liverpool have beaten Newcastle in the Premier League so far, but rock-bottom Wolves are the only team Eddie Howe’s new-look side have picked up three points from themselves as they adapt to life without Isak following his messy divorce from Tyneside.
Three goalless away draws against Aston Villa, Leeds United and Bournemouth have put points on the board, but the Magpies have failed to score in five of their last seven Premier League games, as often as they had in their previous 41. Club record £65 million arrival Nick Woltemade will hope to fill the Isak void, and his first Geordies goal secured their only three-point haul so far on their last league home outing against Wolves.
Since then, their Champions League return was dampened thanks to Marcus Rashford’s brace for Barcelona in a 2-1 defeat on Tyneside, while the defence of their cherished Carabao Cup began on Wednesday when they beat League One Bradford City 4-1 at home, thanks to braces from Joelinton and Will Osula.
What the managers say
Arteta: “You have to dominate when you play against them. We have to be ready because they continue so rapidly, so quickly. It’s a really intense match, we will prepare for that. I always praise the work that Eddie and the coaching staff have done there. We know the test, we know that we’re going to have to be much more efficient than we’ve been lately when we played up there to win.
"I think it’s one of the best football atmospheres in the country. As a player, as a fan, as a coach, you want to live in this atmosphere; they play every single ball with you, it’s electric. To play there is such a challenge and opportunity as well, so it’s a great game to play.” - every word from Mikel’s pre-match press conference
Howe: “It’s always been competitive in the games that I’ve been here and there has been an edge to those games because both teams are desperate to win. We encourage that. The more competitive we are, the better we play, so certainly we need to bring that side.
"It is a fresh game and a fresh opportunity to impress. We draw a line under the past. The past is irrelevant, but you need to take whatever confidence you can so we'll look to do that, but Arsenal are a good team."
Team news
Noni Madueke is set to be out for a couple of months after damaging his knee during last weekend’s game against Manchester City, joining Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus on the sidelines for similar reasons.
Piero Hincapie has also missed the past couple of matches with a groin issue, but Martin Odegaard could be back after he missed those matches with a shoulder complaint and has returned to training.
Anthony Gordon, who has four goal involvements against us in his last six matches, has completed a three-match ban following his red card against Liverpool and can be selected again, but Fabian Schar is struggling with a head injury sustained against Barcelona last week.
Recent recruits Jacob Ramsey and Yoane Wissa are out of action after sustaining ankle and knee injuries respectively early into their St James’ Park tenures, while Jacob Murphy is managing an Achilles issue but should be fit to feature.
Talking tactics
Adrian Clarke: Keeping clean sheets in four of their five Premier League matches, Newcastle are a tough nut to crack. They have faced the fewest shots in the division and boast the best expected goals against tally too. Howe has used five at the back in a couple of away games, but at St James’ Park he usually goes with a 4-3-3.
They defend from the front very well. No team has made as many high turnovers (40) as the Magpies, but most of those occur when opponents move the ball into midfield. So, when our back four do that, they must be careful with our decision-making and accuracy.
Gordon often leads the Newcastle press. His three starts this term have all come as a central striker, but in the past, he has been effective against us when used out wide. If Woltemade starts as centre forward, it’s important we work hard to try and stop Gordon and Murphy putting crosses into the box because the German scored a terrific header at home to Wolves.
Failing to score on our last three visits to St James’ Park, I expect us to approach this contest in a slightly different way. Newcastle’s physical midfield unit have consistently used their aggression to break up play against us. If we can miss out Bruno Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali and Joelinton by going over them, or through them with fast, flowing interplay, it will give this meeting a different dynamic. A stop-start, slow-paced contest suits the hosts, so hopefully we can find a better flow this time around.
Facts and stats
Newcastle have won seven of their last nine Premier League games at St James’ Park, although those two defeats have come in their last three games.
We only have more Premier League wins against Everton (38) and West Ham (37) than Newcastle (36), while the 31 clean sheets we’ve kept against the Magpies are the most one club has kept against another in the competition’s history.
Under Mikel Arteta, we have only lost more away games at Manchester City in all competitions (5) than we have away to Newcastle (4).
We have lost just one of our last 16 Premier League away games, though this did come last time out at Liverpool. Only twice since May 2022 have we lost consecutive league games on the road, with the second defeat both times coming at Newcastle (May 2022 and November 2024).
Newcastle have faced fewer shots (37) and have a lower xG against (2.6) than any other side in the Premier League this season. However, at the other end, only Aston Villa (1.9%) have a lower shot conversion rate than the Magpies (5.6%).
No player has applied more pressures in either the final third (202) or in the opposition penalty area (85) so far this season than Viktor Gyokeres.
Only against Crystal Palace (7) does Newcastle goalkeeper Nick Pope have more clean sheets in the Premier League than us (6).
Match officials
Jarred Gillett has been handed the keys to this contest, the second time he’s refereed us in six Premier League matches this term having also managed our 5-0 success against Leeds United last month. That was one of four wins from the last five he's presided over, which also includes a 2-1 loss against Bournemouth in May.
Newcastle have lost just twice on the 13 occasions Gillett has been selected for one of their matches, with one of those being the last pairing, a 4-1 loss at Aston Villa in April. He sent off Tomas Soucek in his last appointment when Tottenham Hotspur beat West Ham United, while the only penalty he has awarded this term saw Viktor Gyokeres net late on in that Leeds win.
Referee: Jarred Gillett
Assistants: Ian Hussin, Scott Ledger
Fourth official: Anthony Taylor
VAR: Darren England
Assistant VAR: Steve Meredith
Recent TYNESIDE trips
The Magpies have won four of their last five games against us in all competitions on their own turf, as many wins as in their previous 27. That means they’re looking to win four successive home games against us for the first time since 1969.
The last time we visited in February saw us beaten 2-0 in the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg thanks to goals from Murphy and Gordon, while a towering header from Isak clinched the three points two months earlier.
The season before saw Gordon score in controversial circumstances to clinch another single-goal win, while our last win at the venue came in May 2023 when Martin Odegaard netted from range before a Schar own goal sealed the points.
Live coverage
This season, Live From N5 is the place to be for live commentary of all our men’s first-team games across 2025/26.
Tune in from just before kick-off, when Dan Roebuck and Adrian Clarke will once again be behind the mics to guide you through the on-field action.
You can also find out which broadcasters are showing the action live, wherever you are in the world.