Newcastle will make the very long trip south for today’s FA Cup Third Round clash against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.
It has been over a decade since the pair locked horns in any form of cup competition, and go back as far as January 2008 for our last matchup in the FA Cup, but the pair will be well aware of each other thanks to their Premier League clashes over the years.
Arsenal have won seven matches against the Toon when playing at home, while our manager Mikel Arteta has only overseen one match against this side back in February, a comfortable 4-0 victory.
Our current form wont make pleasant reading for our Northern readers either as we come into the match with a resurgence in form with three straight wins, conceding just once in that time.
Newcastle on the other hand are without a win in their last six fixtures, scoring just once in their last four matches altogether.
None of this counts for too much going into the first round of the cup however, as the competition isn’t only known for it’s unexpected results, but also for proving to be a distraction from the club’s league form.
Regardless of the XI which Mikel Arteta selects, our team appears to be playing with confidence at present, and if certain players bring their form from the Europa League into the first-team squad for today, then we should be able to bring in a nice win.
I’m going to go with a 3-1 win, with Balogun grabbing himself a goal (assuming he comes off the bench for at least 30 minutes of action with our team already ahead).
What are your early predictions before seeing the confirmed line-ups?
Patrick
I don’t think it will be an easy game, especially if Saint-Maximin plays, but we should have enough to get through. I’m hoping we play a strong team as whatever others think, the FA Cup is very important. By the way Patrick, it’s the 3rd round not the 1st round.
Declan we know for a fact that St Maximin is nowhere near foot and definitely misses out today. Not even in the squad.
near “fit”! not foot.