Newcastle team v Arsenal predicted with one change | OneFootball

Looking at this Newcastle team v Arsenal.

Eddie Howe and his team looking to bounce back from the defeats to title chasing Man City and Liverpool.

Those defeats came after a four game winning run, whilst the home loss to the scousers ended six victories in a row at St James Park.

So what can we expect the Newcastle team v Arsenal to be?

As a starting point…

This was the Newcastle team v Man City:

Dubravka, Krafth, Lascelles, Burn, Targett, Guimaraes, Longstaff, Joelinton, Saint-Maximin, Almiron, Wood

Eddie Howe on Thursday morning giving us an update on injuries /fitness and potential availability.

Jonjo Shelvey and Joe Willock are now ruled out for the remainder of this season due to injury.

Kieran Trippier and Callum Wilson got their first minutes in months last weekend but Eddie Howe saying he would only consider starting either player if thinking they were back to full fitness.

Ryan Fraser is back in training now after missing these past five weeks.

Martin Dubravka didn’t have the best of days at the Etihad but with three clean sheets in his last six matches and only conceding more than one goal on two occasions these past five months, he will start as usual.

For a second game in a row, Emil Krafth’s lack of real quality was exposed once again. However, overall he hasn’t done badly and whilst Arsenal are obviously one of the better teams, they are miles behind the levels of Liverpool and Man City. Kieran Trippier would be a certainty to start if fully fit but after only 20 minutes of action after months out, I don’t see that as a possibility tonight. Maybe on Sunday at Burnley if another decent number of minutes from the subs bench against Arsenal.

Matt Targett battled away for Newcastle last week at Man City and will obviously continue his run in the team tonight.

Similarly, Dan Burn kept at it against Guardiola’s team and will be a key man against Arsenal.

However, surely an easy decision tonight for Eddie Howe to bring back Fabian Schar, who dropped to the bench last weekend after missing a lot of training in the week leading up to the Man City game. Lascelles was a real weakness and as is often the case, Schar’s absence reminded you of just what an asset the Switzerland international has been under Eddie Howe. Now back in training this week, Schar will surely be reunited with Dan Burn.

Bruno Guimaraes will of course be in the team, whilst Joelinton will also play, even though he hasn’t been up to his (Eddie Howe) standard in recent games.

With Willock and Shelvey missing, it doesn’t really give the head coach many options. So despite being totally anonymous against Man City, I think Sean Longstaff will get another start.

As with Kieran Trippier, I can’t see any way Callum Wilson will be risked as a starter. Chris Wood had a thankless job for much of last weekend’s match, though failed with a real sitter from only six yards out when the match was still goalless. The former Burnley striker to be in the starting eleven.

Allan Saint-Maximin looked a bit better going forward last weekend and laid on that sitter for Chris Wood, though ASM’s defending was poor, particularly for the opening goal. Hopefully we see a further improvement going forward against Arsenal and a bit more discipline when asked to defend.

Miguel Almiron had one of those games at Man City where he had no real influence on the match. After picking up his Premier League goal of the month award for April, here’s hoping he can now improve on a record of only that one Premier League goal (against Palace) in over 15 months. I think Almiron definitely stays in the team. Maybe if Ryan Fraser was fully fit things would be different but I think more realistic that Fraser might be back available as a starter against Burnley.

The reality is that overall, Newcastle United have a pretty weak squad. Apart from Schar set to come in and the two England internationals on their way back from injury, when you look at this bench from the Man City match, you can’t see anybody who you think is pushing for a start – Darlow, Dummett, Schar, Wilson, Ritchie, Trippier, Manquillo, Murphy, Gayle.

Dubravka, Krafth, Schar, Burn, Targett, Guimaraes, Longstaff, Joelinton, Saint-Maximin, Almiron, Wood