Newcastle United aim to win their first match against Arsenal

Newcastle United are ready for Premier League action after a two-week break in play, but can they earn their first victory?

The wait is over, my friends. The Premier League will return this weekend after a two-week international break in play has concluded. Newcastle United are eager to get back into the grind with hopes of climbing the table, but tomorrow’s match against Arsenal will not be easy.

Newcastle should be comfortable tomorrow seeing that the match will be played at St. James’ Park, but the Magpies need to be mentally prepared if they want to earn their first victory of the season. Unai Emery is making his first trip to Tyneside as the Gunners’ manager and the Spaniard has already stated that his side will be cautious of the atmosphere.

Both clubs have had slow starts to the 2018-19 campaign. Newcastle are currently 18th in the table with one point from four matches and have a performance record of 0-1-3. Arsenal are doing much better with six points from four matches, but they are barely hanging on to a spot in the top ten.

The Magpies and Gunners will face each other at 3:00 PM in front of 52,000 fervent supporters. Newcastle will look to utilize the motivation they receive from their home crowd, but Arsenal’s supporters will surely travel up north in large numbers. Rafa Benitez is prepared to take some risks, but will those risks lead to three points tomorrow?

Attacking Football

During the international break, Benitez made it clear to the media that Newcastle’s days of playing ultra-defensive football are over. The Spaniard tactician stated that Newcastle will play toe-to-toe with Arsenal from the opening whistle.

This fresh confidence that Benitez has expressed in his side is good news for the team. It remains to be seen whether or not Newcastle will play with a different formation, but we can expect to see more bodies push forward.

Assuming Salomon Rondon gets the nod up top, the Venezuelan frontman will significantly benefit from this attacking style of play as he would have sufficient support behind him. It will also be interesting to see if Benitez will allow Jonjo Shelvey to get back into the mix after dealing with an injury over the past few weeks. Shelvey’s presence would provide Newcastle with the aggression they need in midfield against players like Granit Xhaka.

Final Note

The Magpies are slight underdogs in this match, but Arsenal’s inconsistent defending could open enough doors for Newcastle to score multiple goals. With that being said, Arsenal’s attacking core is dangerous and it would only take one minor error in defense to give the Gunners golden opportunities. Both teams will look to claim three points and, as a result, it should be an open match that sees Martin Dubravka and Petr Cech diving to make several saves.