Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has been speaking about Newcastle United ahead of Sunday’s Premier League meeting between the two sides.
Newcastle United vs Arsenal is another huge game in the Premier League as both teams look to truly kickstart their season.
Eddie Howe’s side could certainly do with a statement victory at St James’ Park, after winning just one of their opening five league games.
While the Gunners have been in better form, they could be as much as eight points behind title rivals Liverpool by the time they kick-off against Newcastle United on Sunday afternoon.
Arteta has praised Newcastle fans and, speaking on Friday, he revealed more about his preparation for the game.
Why Mikel Arteta turned the volume up for Newcastle United vs Barcelona
The teams have been building something of a rivalry of late. Newcastle boast a very strong record against the North London giants on Tyneside in recent seasons, so Arteta knows all about the atmosphere at St James’.
Talking about what awaits his side, Arteta revealed that – in his mind – there were two ways for him to watch Newcastle’s loss to Barcelona in the Champions League.
He believes he could have either watched it on mute to focus on the game, or at full volume to really soak up the occasion.
Arteta went for the full volume approach.
“There are two ways to look at that game with a tactical view, it’s on mute or put the volume up and I decided to put the volume up just to understand,” he said.
“In every decision, there is an emotional contribution and certainly when you have to play your game and the way you want to play there, you have to be able to do it in that atmosphere and I think that’s beautiful.”
Eddie Howe issues Newcastle United message ahead of Arsenal clash
It’s a huge game for Newcastle. Not only are they playing a rival, they really need to win to lay down a marker for the rest of the season.
Newcastle’s early season form has not been a disaster by any means but it feels like things are yet to click.
Howe wants his players to rise to the occasion against Arsenal and, given all the team have done under his watch since his appointment in 2021, it would be foolish to bet against them doing exactly that.
Speaking ahead of the game, the Newcastle United manager said: “It has always been a competitive game against Arsenal, and there has been an edge to those games as both teams want to win.
“The more competitive we are, the better we play. We need to bring that to the game on Sunday.”
Newcastle sit 13th in the Premier League table heading into this weekend’s round of fixtures, while Arsenal are second.
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