Paul Merson has given his prediction for who he thinks will win between Newcastle United and Arsenal this weekend.
Newcastle have maintained a five-game unbeaten run across all competitions though their defence has been leaking goals while Arsenal’s attack has been on fire until their 1-0 defeat to Porto last night.
In his predictions for Sportskeeda, Merson claims Arsenal will just have too much for Newcastle and tipped Bukayo Saka to be key in the game against the Magpies’ defence.
Merson says things ‘could get messy’ for Newcastle
Newcastle’s last game at the Emirates in January 2023 finished 0-0, the last scoreless draw Arsenal had in the Premier League, and left the Gunners feeling very frustrated as they struggled to get past Newcastle’s tightly-knit defence.
However, things are looking a lot tougher for Newcastle who have conceded nine goals in their last four games and have struggled to overcome the likes of Bournemouth and Luton Town.
The particular weak spots have been Martin Dubravka in goal whose performances have left a lot to be desired while Dan Burn has received the majority of criticism and has often been replaced early in the second half.
There are a number of calls for Tino Livramento to come in at left-back and try to defend against the pace of Bukayo Saka who Merson thinks could have a field day on Saturday night.
“Arsenal suffered a big blow last night. They last won a European trophy 30 years ago. It just shows you how hard European competitions really are – you need the experience. They had a lot of the ball away from home, but they didn’t really know what to do with it. I’m not sure why they changed the away-goals rule – you’re now going to get games like this because teams will go into a shell in their away matches.
“I don’t think their European setback will affect Arsenal this weekend. Newcastle have been inconsistent recently but have managed to remain unbeaten in their last five matches. They’re scoring goals, but they’re conceding far too many goals as well. They cannot go to Arsenal this weekend and defend like that – they’ll get destroyed.
“Newcastle’s defence is struggling at the moment, but they don’t have much to play for. I like watching them play because they open games up, but they don’t want to do that against Arsenal – it could get messy. Bukayo Saka could have a field day in this fixture, and I expect Arsenal to win this game comfortably.”
Prediction: Arsenal 3-1 Newcastle United
Arsenal will be looking for revenge against Newcastle
The most recent fixture between these two sides ended in a 1-0 victory for Newcastle at St James’ Park thanks to an Anthony Gordon goal which was checked by VAR three times for the ball going out of play, offside and a foul.
That along with a performance from Bruno Guimaraes that somehow didn’t result in a red card left the Gunners infuriated and in his interview after the game Mikel Arteta claimed the decisions in the game were ‘a disgrace’.
Now, Arsenal will be hoping to get revenge on their opponents and they will have no better time to do it with Newcastle missing so many key player through injury.
Newcastle will be missing Joelinton, who had a brilliant game in that 1-0 win, Nick Pope who would have been huge against Arsenal’s attack, and Callum Wilson who also started in the game at St James’ Park.
That’s not to suggest Newcastle have no chance on Saturday, but they’ll have to be at their very best to come away from a result and much improved from the Bournemouth and Luton games.
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