Newcastle United vs Arsenal
Kick Off; April 15, 13:30; Venue; St James’ Park; Referee; Anthony Taylor
If popular opinion were to be believed, Rafa Benitez would have walked out on Newcastle United at least four times this season.
His horrendous treatment by Magpies owner Mike Ashley, being hung out to dry with minimal communication from the St James’ Park boardroom with virtually no funds to improve a squad seriously lacking in proven Premier League quality, and the constant threat of relegation makes it logical that a man of Benitez’s calibre would decide he’s had enough. While the Spaniard will surely receive offers in the summer, as he has during his Newcastle reign before, and there will come a breaking point in his relationship with Ashley, blindly assuming he will walk away from his current job shows a lack of understanding of Benitez and his bond with the club, the fans and the city, despite not having permanent residency there.
Taking the job in the first place, with relegation looming large at the end of the 2015/16 season, was not logical, and staying when it had been confirmed two months later certainly wasn’t either. Benitez is a man who values the emotional side of football, the loyalty, the passion and the love, just as much as he does success and medals; in that sense, he is rather unique in terms of the very top managers. He’d like nothing more to combine the two at Newcastle, and after giving his tenure every chance to develop on Tyneside, he is finally reaping the rewards.
Newcastle face Arsenal at home on Sunday afternoon looking for a fourth straight win; after a season of lingering nerves, pain and worry, the path suddenly looks clear. The Magpies have a ten-point buffer between themselves and the bottom three and sit in the top half after beating Leicester City last weekend. Arsenal, too, are in great form; having salvaged a draw in Moscow to ensure progression to the Europa League semi finals on Thursday, they saw a run of six straight wins come to an end. All things considered, though, there may be an opportunity for the hosts to cause an upset.
The Gunners were forced to go the distance, with their strongest team possible, to guarantee their path past CSKA Moscow; the Europa League is their only real shot at Champions League qualification this season, with the Premier Leaguue route long since exhausted. Understandably, Arsene Wenger will want to focus most of his energy on that competition, but such a long trip will see them arrive back home fatigued and with next to no time to prepare for their travels to the North East. Despite victories over the likes of Watford, Stoke City and Southampton at the Emirates Stadium in weeks gone by, Wenger has rested some key players; Newcastle will be licking their lips at the prospect of facing them if that is the case once again.
One such player who will be taking to the St James’ Park pitch is Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, once upon a time a Newcastle transfer target who admitted he shunned their advances in favour of joining Borussia Dortmund. The Gabonese striker has been a real hit in North London since his club-record move in January, netting six goals, and he is more than capable of coming back to haunt his former admirers on Sunday. With Aubameyang around, Benitez simply cannot rest easy, not that he would anyway.
Mesut Özil is yet to feature in a game on Tyneside since joining Arsenal from Real Madrid almost five years ago. Given that he has been used sparingly in the league of late, that bizarre statistic may yet continue; Newcastle will be confident if that is the case, while being fully aware that, on their day, Arsenal can run riot.
The future seems bright for Newcastle; their top flight status is all but secure, and there is even speculation that Ashley is once again stepping up his efforts to sell the club. With Benitez at the helm and the right backing in place, there is no telling of their potential, but their first and only focus will be stretching their winning run on Sunday.
Team News
Newcastle have no fresh injury concerns but could finally give a first start to Islam Slimani, who has barely featured since his loan move from Leicester due to injury and the Magpies facing his parent club last week.
Aubamayang will start for Arsenal, as could Mohamed Elneny after his red card against Southampton was recinded, but the likes of Özil and Thursday’s goal hero Aaron Ramsey may be rested. Henrikh Mkhitaryan is out for the season with a knee injury.
Probable line ups
Newcastle: Dubravka, Dummett, Lejeune, Lascelles, Yedlin, Shelvey, Diame, Kenedy, Ritchie, Perez, Slimani
Arsenal: Cech, Kolasinac, Chambers, Mustafi, Bellerin, Elneny, Xhaka, Welbeck, Iwobi, Nelson, Aubameyang
Did you know?
Rafa Benitez has won just seven of 23 matches with Arsenal, giving him his second worst points per match average (1.27) against any current Premier League side behind Chelsea.
Prediction: Newcastle are fifth in the Premier League form table with just two defeats in 2018; it is not the best time for Arsenal to be facing them in any sense. The trip to Russia this week could take a toll, but despite resting players and putting in less than convincing performances at times, they have still been winning games. Whoever starts for them will have the ability to cause problems, too.
Taking everything into consideration and with little riding on the game, both sides would probably take a draw and that is what will happen. Score Prediction: Newcastle United 1-1 Arsenal
