Newcastle United will get their biggest win of the Premier League season if they can beat Arsenal on Saturday night.
The Magpies have enjoyed a strong start to the season that has been full of incredible moments. The win against Paris Saint-Germain was magical, as was Wednesday night’s victory over Manchester United. We have also witnessed a 5-1 drubbing of Aston Villa and an 8-0 thrashing of Sheffield United.
Eddie Howe’s side are a joy to watch once again, but would be making a real statement of intent to the rest of the Premier League if they can beat Arsenal on Saturday night.
Mikel Arteta is expecting a great atmosphere at St James’ Park, and will know that his side needs to manage the crowd and silence them if they are going to take home all three points.
And that is something that BBC Sport pundit Chris Sutton thinks they will do.
Sutton expects Newcastle to lose against Arsenal
As part of his Premier League predictions for BBC Sport, Chris Sutton has backed Arsenal to win 2-0 against Newcastle at St James’ Park on Saturday evening.
“Newcastle’s third team beat Manchester United in the EFL Cup on Wednesday, and the whole club will be buoyed by that result,” he said.
“In the same competition, I found it really odd that Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta waited until his side were 3-0 down to West Ham before bringing on Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Odegaard.
“Was he really expecting them to turn the game around? Either play them from the start or bring them on when they are 1-0 down.
“Both sides will be back to full strength on Saturday and I am expecting this game to be really close. There won’t be many goals, but I just have a sneaking feeling that Arsenal will take the points.”
Carabao Cup confidence can give Newcastle a lift
It will be such a tough game against Arsenal, but Howe’s side should be full of confidence. That win at Old Trafford was absolutely huge, and it was even more impressive considering the amount of fringe players that were involved.
That should make the mood behind the scenes at Newcastle even more positive, and it will hopefully lead to a huge performance against Arsenal.
The crowd will be up for it, with everyone still riding the high of beating Man United 3-0 in their own backyard.
That wave of momentum should help Newcastle against Arsenal, and it could even lead to victory. If that does happen, just imagine how confident Howe’s players will be for the Champions League contest with Borussia Dortmund just days later.
But we are getting ahead of ourselves. This is going to be a very challenging game, and it is actually one that Sutton thinks we will lose.
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