Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka has warned his teammates about how tough their match at Newcastle United will be after the Magpies tore them apart last season.
Newcastle has become one of the in-form clubs in Europe this season as they chase an unlikely place inside the top four.
Fans had expected them to falter and probably move away from the top half of the table at this stage of the season, but that hasn’t happened.
They have been embarrassing seemingly top clubs in recent weeks and Arsenal will face them in their title run-in.
Xhaka has not forgotten how they were embarrassed on their last visit to Saint James Park.
‘We don’t forget the game we had there last season,’ he told Sky Sports.
‘I have to be honest they destroyed us. They were much, much better, they wanted it more. We have to go there and show them we are ready and why we are where we are.
‘We deserve to be where we are at the moment. But it will be a very tough moment because Newcastle are doing a very good job.’
Just Arsenal Opinion
Newcastle is a top side and we must be worried about them as we close in on a good finish to the campaign.
The Magpies are one of the strongest sides to play against now and we must be at our very best to get a result in that game.
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Think we need a Partey-Jorghino double pivot in this game to protect the defence.
Hopefully this will be a better game than the one played at the Emirates, where the ball was only in played for 51 minutes.
As the PGMOL and Allan Webb continues to drag their foot on addressing the time wasting monster, I sincerely hope it dosen’t raise its head at St James Park.
Be garded, Newcastle use their height, body weight and rough tactics to wear down their opponents. They are the most rugged side in the premier league. They are as strong as the black raw coal in Newcastle South Africa.
For the Newcastle game how about ?
Ramsdale;
White, Gabriel(if fit), Kiwior, Tierney;
Odegaard Jorginho Xhaka
Saka Trossard Martinelli
Jesus to come on later depending on how the game is going, and if he does he should take up better positions in that bloody box. Holding to come on to bolster the defence later on if needed. At the moment Partey is not quite at it so he’ll be on the bench too. However he might come on later for Jorginho. Zinchenko might be used as a sub but not at LB. If he plays at all it should be as a midfield sub. Of course this will all depend on the state of the game.
It’s going to be deadly hard to stop Isak. OMG.
Yes, Arsenal must beat Newcastle or draw in order to either get 2nd or 3rd position in the Premier League. All other teams are fighting hard. Not a time to relax. Go for it Gunners.
I do believe we are guaranteed second place if we beat them, but it is going to be hard, if we are caught napping then we could lose, if Leeds were to get a result at City, with Big Sam, then it becomes a must-win game
@Evguners, you think everything will be like Chelsea, you want to use Xhaka, jorghino and odegard against an inform and physical team like Newcastle?
Thank God you are not the coach, and you want to bench Jesus? Then, who will face a bully and physical defenders of Newcastle.
I will rather go with Ben, holding, gab and Tierney at the back, Partey, Xhaka and jorghino in the middle, martinelli, Jesus and Troassard front but I know that the coach will go with his prefer team.
My reason is that Newcastle strength is they attack through opposition left side, in which zinch will be vunerable, odegard doesn’t turn up against can very physical team, so in the middle we should be more physical against Newcastle Atleast till the first 60mins, in attack, saka is really tired and opponents are really focusing on him, we should switch the attacking formation to confuse Newcastle, then in the second half, they can come in.
Mr Wale, it is a good thing I’m not the coach, nonetheless although I would have an in-form Partey playing ahead of Jorginho, he is all over the place at present. Got other things on his mind maybe ?
If I understand you correctly are you saying that Jesus is the man to stand up to bullying defenders ? Again, I like Jesus when he puts the ball in the net, but he just isn’t a natural finisher and I wish he would stop crying. Truth is we need a bona fide killer centre forward (old money). So you still don’t fancy Kiwior ? I am sometimes critical of Odegaard but he is a genuinely attacking midfield player who knows how to score goals when our strikers miss opportunities in a profligate way.
I still don’t understand how people prefer Tieney to Zinchenko. It’s almost the same as saying Holding over Saliba.
Zinchenko gives us more control of the game which in turn increase our offensive efficiency and dominance.
Tieney is a defend first player and usually clears his line first whenunder pressure, that will only gift back possession to Newcastle more.
Because of the risk involve in controlling play we will often see Zinchenko’s mistake, but do not underestimate his important in our system and team function.
You want Gabriel and Tieney in the same defence without Saliba and will also bench Partey.
Mide, I am not crazy about Tierney but as a defensive LB he is clearly better than Zinchenko.
He doesn’t have Zinchenko’s personality however.
If you want Isak to rip up Zinchenko then go ahead. Also Partey when he is on his game is a starter for sure, but he’s not doing the business at the moment.
For EG
This team would work against NU if there is a double pivot. In this formation, both Xhaka and Odegaard drift forwards leaving huge gaps.
They will wait for the mistake and hit us with speed and physicality on the break more than dictate the tempo.
For this game, we have to go for a 3-4-3 as below:-
Ramsdale
3: Holding/Kiwior Gabriel Tierney
4: White Partey Jorginho Zinchenko/Xhaka
3: Saka Trossard/Odegaard Martinelli
This also allows the 3 upfront to become 1-2 in a 3-4-1-2 with the 1 either Trossard or Odegaard dropping back into midfield to give further defensive protection or into attack.
Newcastle will be tough! They are having the run of their lives.
Arsenal will have to be their best to get the right result on Sunday. Good thing, the players are aware of the situation. They must rise up to the levels that too us through a seven-match winning streak. COYG!
Refreshing to see that from xhaka – brutally honest about last season and under no illusions about this game. I hope the players see it as a challenge they can overcome, though. They have to believe that.
Davi, whenever Xhaka says things like that, the same thing happens again. We need him to actually do something about it on the pitch not talk about what happened previously.
Sadly whenever one of our players comes out with a warning or states they have learned from past mistake we get beat badly. The team stated before the city game they knew how important the game was and didn’t bothering showing up. This goes back to Wenger era actually. I prefer when we keep silent and go about our business. We all know how tough the Newcastle game will be.
Exactly. Well said. Sorry, if I had seen your post I wouldn’t have needed to virtually replicate.
Xhaka should keep looking for Odegaard and get a bit of a combo going. And we need to play Trossard more, even if it’s the last 25 minutes of games. Kiwior needs to grab his chance, I hope he makes Arteta’s job harder