Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal face Newcastle this weekend and while the Magpies haven’t won a game all season, this may not be a straightforward task for the Gunners.
Indeed, after his negative covid test, Eddie Howe will be on the sidelines as Newcastle manager for the first time ever, and that new manager bounce should give the Tyneside outfit a lift.
Of course, Arsenal should have the quality to counter this momentum that Newcastle could have coming into the game, but in order to do so, Arteta has to get his team selection spot on.
With that in mind, we’ve had a go at predicting Arsenal’s starting XI for this match.
We think that Arteta will make three changes from the side that were steamrolled by Liverpool in last week’s 4-0 loss.
The back four has one change as Kieran Tierney comes in for Nuno Tavares.
In the midfield, Ainsley Maitland-Niles returns in place of Albert Sambi Lokonga, while Martin Odegaard replaces Alexandre Lacazette.
Maitland-Niles certainly deserves a starting spot and he was unlucky to lose his place after a solid showing against Watford earlier this month.
There are no prizes for guessing who starts up top as Arteta trusts Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang spearheads the attack.
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