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Confirmed Arsenal team to take on Newcastle

Arsenal are up north today as they take on Newcastle at St James’s Park, but we’d be lying if we didn’t have the Europa League in the back of our minds.

We will face Villarreal at the Emirates on Thursday, needing to overturn a 2-1 deficit, and that away goal means that just a 1-0 victory will see us through.

We should be focussing on today’s job at hand though, and Newcastle will be up for this.

The Magpies are closing in on safety from the drop, needing just six points from their remining five matches to secure promotion, even though their current points tally could see them through assuming that one of Fulham or West Brom are unlikely to return the maximum possible points.

Arsenal go into today’s game without Alexandre Lacazette, as confirmed by Arsenal, while Kieran Tierney also remains a doubt, and with claims that we could well rotate with Thursday in mind, we named the below predicted line-up:

Ryan
Bellerin Luiz Gabriel Tierney
Ceballos Elneny
Willian Odegaard Martinelli
Aubameyang

As you can see, Mikel Arteta had slightly different ideas although that could have been that Tierney wasn’t ready. Here is the confirmed team as shown on Arsenal’s official website.

Ryan
Bellerin
David Luiz
Gabriel
Xhaka
Elneny
Ceballos
Willian
Odegaard
Martinelli
Aubameyang (c)

Is this team strong enough to get the three points? What are your predictions after seeing the confirmed team?

Patrick

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133 Comments

  1. I hope I’m wrong but Xhaka at LB, Elneny and Willian don’t fill me with confidence. Great to see the Gabis starting though. Anyway, positive thinking…ohhmmm

    1. Only if that preseason is used to bed in our talented youngsters and get them ready for next season.

  4. Xhaka at left back
    Elneny as Single Pivot and Ceballos who doesn’t want to be here is really worry…

    1. Plus Willian who is marginally better than going down to ten men … Why isn’t he playing Cedric on the left with Xhaka and Partey in midfield? We need to know how the team will hang together on Thursday …

    2. Ceballos got the red in EL. It’s only ‘natural’ for Arteta to make full use of him today.

  5. Nice to see our best 2 CBS playing together ,but. Gala at left back again I take it 🤔
    Anyway COYG .

    2. And Frustrating Ceballos who will drift on to left wing and Elneny will remain as single pivot who cannot control midfield as single pivot..

  6. I think we have 4 Brazilians on the team but none of them are in the national team. How the mighty have fallen..

    Can you please put my frigging message through?

  7. Both of our defenders are prone to conceding penalties, and with Ceballos in the middle who is prone to errors, I hope we deal with that well. That is the only issue I have with the line up

  8. Hopefully the match will be the real test for Ryan and I’m glad to see Bellerin back in RB position

    My only concern is just Willian and Odegaard. It will only be effective if Willian plays CAM and Odegaard plays RW

    If Willian plays RW, he won’t have the pace to race with Newcastle LB. But if Odegaard plays RW, he can always cut inside

    1. my opinion is to start smith rowe with martin odegaard instead of Ceballos and Elneny

  9. Xhaka at leftback again? Surely, is this to mean we have nobody training as a leftback in the youth academy?

    1. Saint-Maximan’s eyes will be as big as saucers with Xhaka at LB. So frustrating to see players put in positions to fail.

      Real head scratcher unless Xhaka is playing LB again on Thursday and needs to keep learning a new role. The last five PL games should be chance to see if anyone in u23s is ready to back up Tierney next season or if we need to dip into the market.

      1. @Trudeau
        Agreed! Well at least he has caved on his Martinelli stubbornness and given him a start.

      3. Lol but that would be if there were a real process. Not a fake one with underachieving loanes like Ceballos or olders like Willian/luiz.

  10. So glad Auba’s back 👍
    Really surprised Balogun didn’t even make the bench – TMJW/TRVL you were both right!!
    COYG

    1. I’m curious to know what TMJW and TRVL were right about Sue? If it’s about Arteta having a thing against talented youngsters or him not being the one to develop our talented crop of youngsters and take us forward, then I agree. They are totally right lol

      1. As Balogun was absent for the U23s yesterday, I thought he’d make the squad today. They said we’ll see him up in the stands when the cameraman zooms in on him!!

  11. Our league campaign is over

    Why not use the youngsters and get them some valuable minutes and experience??

    1. My thoughts too.

      Give all the youngsters minutes.. Try new formations and lineups for the remaining games..

      Azeez,reiss, balogun, Lopez, moller should be playing some games now..
      .
      Ryan
      Cedric Luiz Gabriel lopez
      El neny Azeez
      Odegaard
      Nelson Balogun martinelli

      Better line up for me

  12. Bit surprised Balogun not even on the bench, I would have thought this was the perfect match to give him some minutes., is he nursing an injury I wonder.

  13. Ceballos, Willian????? Obviously Arteta lives in a parallel universe where they don’t play football, probably netball. Ceballos…..is he kidding…..stupid wally….Ceballos hates Arsenal and sabotages us. Willian….as strong as a feather duster and weaker than a five year old child. Elneny……OK he deserves a game…..plays his guts out.

    1. Also if Xhaka is left back then Arteta ‘bites his nose to spite his face’. Arteta is an obstinate man who will not learn from his mistakes. How badly we are led (misled), managed. Xhaka is not a left back and it is unfair to play him there.

      1. Arteta selection makes all of us mad. Along with ignoring playing youngsters like AMN before, balogun Azeez now. I don’t know what he is doing. He develops nothing, no planning on de loooong anyone. Just trying to win game after game which has not work perfectly this year. I think keeping Freddie would have been better last year. Easy now. But probably true. He had coaching experience contrary to MA. He would not have go for a old Willian (a 35M error) or a second Ceballos loan but probably keep installing the youngsters he knew in the first team.

  14. Seems that Xhaka will again be LB. FACING ST. MAXIMAN TOO! I see self induced trouble ahead for MA. Todays result is in one sense irrelevant now, BUT MA is not helping himself, I am thinking.

    1. Arteta”s inability to learn from his mistakes is concerning and I increasingly fear will stop him from becoming the top class manager that a dwindling number of us think is still in his future.

  15. This Arteta man knows nothing always gambling with line-ups xhaka at left back again

      1. That article was fake. It was the mail Who posted it 😂
        That leech will be nearly impossible to get rid of

  17. Why can’t Arteta just accept that he his wrong, why xkaka at left back can’t he play Cedric there?
    Xhaka needs rest if he is playing on Thursday especially at left back. The league is done and dusted why not rest most of your key players for Thursday why risk it all, are they telling us no body is playing left back at the under21 level?. Na waaa ooo for Arsenal self them go just they behave like say we no see another team for this planet 🙄🙄🙄

  18. I really don’t like the look of this – as ever it’s a half way house. Why is Ceballos even on the pitch? We need Xhaka and Partey midfield and someone competent at left back otherwise saint maximin will run riot

    1. I guess there is a certain number of required starts written on Real Madrid loanees’ contracts

      1. Finally, on ounce of cynicism and a modicum of realism in your postings…for this I must applaud your efforts

  19. Agree that more of the younger players should be featuring in these nothing games. In reality I would never pay money to watch the likes of Luiz, William, Elneny and Xhaka playing together. It’s called torture

  20. Arteta is one arrogant man xhaka lb against saint max ceballos no punishment for being a useless player but guendouzi grabs a player by the neck & slags him off ends his arsenal career 5_0 magpies

  21. This is pretty much the b team playing so don’t mind xhaka at lb or ceballos, willian on the pitch. If they play the 2nd leg vs villareal arteta will kill off the last of his dwindling support.

  25. Fair play Luiz is our best passer by a country mile ,so classy with his balls forward .

    1. He’s underrated and unappreciated by quite a good number…

      Ryan gave Leno a number of lessons in goal keeping.

  28. Surprised Steve Bruce hasn’t put Saint Maximan directly on Xhaka from the start, quite lucky so far

  29. Normal service has resumed

    Terrible 1 game, decent the next….it’s a lottery. So far so good today

    1. He sure got it but Mike Dean loving Arsenal today. He let additional 2 minutes pass ‘cos he’s visibly enjoying the game

      1. Saving him? He’s very well rested and could def use the game time if he is playing Thursday

  34. The new manager has a lot more deadwood to rid, xhaka William bellerin holding mari etc etc

    1. How can you call deadwood a player like Willian that MA wanted so badly. When carragher questions joorabchian, he confirmed that.

  35. Could anyone tell me who looking at the French league put Pepe above rafhina and Maxime and valued him at 3 or 4 times their price … criminal

  37. Shocking lack of class from Ceballos there to get Almiron a yellow. Embarrassing to see.

  38. Ceballos must b the worst arsenal player since ‘wee’ jock mcwhiskey in the 1935 side🙄

  39. I am really impressed with Martinelli. Not only can he play the left wing perfectly, getting beyond his man and crossing, but he can also cut into his right foot and play as a forward and attack the box. Love this boy

    3. Willian isn’t effective as RW, because he doesn’t have the pace to race the opposition’s LB. He’s better as in CAM and LW positions, where he can cut inside and shoot

    4. Willian did whip in dangerous corners and cut few times inside. But thats about it.

      I honestly didnt even realise Ceballos was on the pitch until 20 minutes gone.

      Gabriel and Martinelli have been standouts so far.

      Take Xhaka off. He’s one xhaka away from red card (xhaka = an act of causionable tackling someone with no looming danger whatsoever)

  41. should be more than 1-0 ahead. Martinelli looking good, Auba, Willian feel like filler players now, which is probably why they are in todays lineup.

  42. 5 M midfielder Elneny has been showing Partey how to make long shot properly. I know Partey has never been a goalscoring midfielder, but he should’ve honed his long shot technique

    Saint-Maximin and Martinelli were the best dribblers in the game. No real challenge for Ryan yet

      1. Partey’s strengths are his dribbling and aerial abilities. His passing is inconsistent and his long shot is atrocious

        As a box-to-box midfielder, he might be better than Ramsey and Willock in dribbling through the middle of the field. But he is shocking in other aspects

        1. His ball control is also much better…
          He can able to keep ball in tight areas
          Clever in tight areas

          1. He’s crap at long shots … otherwise he’s on a different footballing planet than elneny in every department ..

    2. I love the confidence ooxing out of Ryan. He has this control and command Leno lalack

      1. Ryan is having a honeymoon period by facing teams with low motivation. He looks great, but we can only see his real abilities in big games

    3. Exactly!

      I don’t know why some fans hate, or rather don’t like this humble industrious guy.

  43. Happy we are leading at the moment and not playing so badly. But this man Arteta sure has a death wish for himself; Ceballos, William, Xhaka at the LB again? Wow! Just wow.

      1. He has to be because of that yellow. Don’t be surprised Arteta will let him stay on until red carded.

          2. this would require. “coaching”… With a view to the next few games. At the moment he probably just want to grab a win, whichever the price, to ease the pressure he is facing

  44. This is the problem with Mikel. The ability to know the problem in between games so as to change things to increase the dominant spell. I sensed this in this firest match against Chelsea. He should be aboable to look at the game and manage games within games instead of just allowing the players play like headless chickens.

    As good as we have played today we can still drop points.

  45. It’s still beats my imagination how can a coach have a player like martinelli in midst of all these below average players and will still not play him week in week out. Arteta should be told by next season that he was not signed as Arsenal manager to come and favour some players over others who are better or get sacked. Arteta ruined our season with his pride and favouritism.

    1. I guess Arteta’s management style is based on the promise he made to the players at the beginning of the season

      The first choices of strikers are definitely Aubameyang, Lacazette and Nketiah. Whereas LW priorities seemed to be Aubameyang, Willian and Pepe

      I think Arteta made his selection based on promise and seniority. I believe Martinelli and Balogun will replace Nketiah or Lacazette next season

  47. Xhaka William ceballos still on for 2nd half seer arrogance from arteta wait till the red card and say I was thinking of taking him off💩

  48. Xhaka need to be very careful…
    He could be off
    MA need to replace him with Cedric

  49. For everyone that says we never get anything from the refs

    Xhaka should 100% be off, very lucky

  50. William wow is he 4 real retired mls player playing 1st football 4 AFC

  51. Very poor performance from Arsenal. 1:0 is not enough. Old Arsenal cannot satisfy with one goal advantage.

  55. You can really see why MA left Martinelli on the bench for months when fit

    Absolutely terrible player!

    1. Keown said it best. Arteta simply does not like him. For whatever reason. And it’s got nothing to do with his talent. Poor manager.

      1. known analysis are pretty good. He follows very closely arsenal and the prem. Knows a hell of a lot in defending. This kind of arsenal legend should be consulted by the board or even MA…

  56. Kung fu goal!
    No reason for MA to bench him. His goal against Chelsea still vivid in my mind.

  59. Xhaka is the least skillful footballer I can recall at Arsenal in a long long time … the only thing worse is a manager who can’t envisage a team without him

  63. Pure class by our massively underappreciated talisman…don’t let Arteta’s negative tactics and a few injuries/illnesses along the way make you forget what Auba brings to the equation…just think of what could be achieved with the right tactics in place and Auba, Martinelli and Saka up top

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