Newcastle United head to Arsenal on Saturday night, and Chris Sutton believes there will be an ‘edge’ to proceedings in North London.
That certainly will be the case, with the Gunners faithful still believing there was a miscarriage of justice at St James’ Park back in November.
Anthony Gordon scored the only goal of the game, but his strike was highly controversial. There were claims that the ball was out, that there was a foul, and an offside. But VAR gave it, and Eddie Howe’s side went on to win 1-0.
There were also some nasty challenges, with Kai Havertz and Bruno Guimaraes lucky to avoid red cards. They will both be involved on Saturday night, as Bruno continues his attempts to avoid a 10th yellow card of the season and subsequent two-match ban.
This should be another battle, and it is one that Chris Sutton, who is currently concerned about goings on at Newcastle right now, believes Arsenal will win.
Chris Sutton predicts Arsenal will beat Newcastle
In his latest Premier League predictions for BBC Sport, Sutton has tipped Arsenal to beat Newcastle 2-1.
“There was plenty of controversy when these two sides met at St James’ Park in November, including fury towards the VAR from Arsenal over Newcastle’s winner,” he wrote.
“That might mean there is an edge to this game, from the start.
“Arsenal were disappointing in their defeat by Porto on Wednesday, which surprised me a little, but Porto really disrupted them.
“Newcastle may well try to do the same thing but I am expecting the Gunners to bounce back. They were excellent when I watched them beat Burnley last week and the Magpies concede too many goals, including eight in their past three games, so I think Arsenal will find a way through.”
Eddie Howe’s side will be up against it vs Arsenal as key players return
That kind of result would be befitting of our record at the Emirates, but it would least bring about our first goal there since 2014.
Given our respective forms, this is going to be incredibly challenging for Howe’s side. As Sutton says, we concede too many goals right now, which is not ideal when you are taking on a rampant Arsenal side. They have scored 21 goals in their last five Premier League games.
Mikel Arteta’s side are looking like potential title winners, and they will be desperate to get revenge on Newcastle.
As for the Magpies, we will at least be boosted by the return of Alexander Isak from injury. It also looks like Joe Willock will finally be available after an Achilles problem.
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