Newcastle team v Arsenal – This starting eleven is the standout one | OneFootball

After a big win for Newcastle United against Chelsea in the Carabao Cup and sealing a place in the League Cup quarter-finals (three in a row for Eddie howe in the league Cup ), it’s back to business for United in the league.

Arsenal the visitors to St James Park.

A tough match but a fixture we’ve done well in, under Eddie Howe’s watch. Newcastle winning two of the three encounters at St James’ Park.

A 1-0 win last season with the goal from Anthony Gordon that some Arsenal fans still can’t let go of to this day. Whilst Newcastle lost 2-0 in 2022/23,  it was an excellent dominant performance and 2-0 to NUFC back in May 2022 in Arsenal’s final away match of the season, effectively ended their top four prospects.

After victory in the cup against Chelsea, fans now debating what the Newcastle team v Arsenal should be on Saturday. All opinions. No right or wrong answer.

Against Chelsea we saw five changes, as Krafth, Kelly, Willock, Longstaff and Gordon came in for Livramento, Burn, Barnes, Bruno and Almiron.

I think the defence and midfield will need to be well organised and on the same page, if we are to get a good result on Saturday against the Gunners. Personally, I hope we pick the same back four on Saturday.

As highly as I rate Livramento as an attacking full-back, the experienced Emile Krafth is a better defender when it comes to positioning, discipline and tackling.

I think Lloyd Kelly and not Dan Burn alongside Fabian Schar is a better balance too, as Kelly offers more mobility and won’t get outpaced by many Arsenal players.

The midfield ?

Well when we beat the gunners twice in the last three seasons, it was Joelinton, Bruno and Sean Longstaff that won the midfield battle on both occasions.

The game we lost 2-0 in 2023? Sean Longstaff was injured and unavailable. So could it be three in a row for that trio together against Arsenal at St James Park?

I have previously questioned the trio of Tonali, Joelinton and Bruno, I don’t know how many more games they need, but it doesn’t work. We can talk about potential all day long  but they are not delivering the results that a so-called world class midfield trio should be. One win in 11 games doesn’t convince me that it’s a good midfield and a lot of performances have been disjointed with the three of them starting.

I think Sandro Tonali has to play where Bruno Guimaraes has been playing, to get the best out of the Italian on a more regular basis. The two brilliant performances I’ve seen from him, on each occasion it has been where he’s been stationed more central. He and Bruno together, just does not work in a midfield three,with Bruno sat at the base.

Could we try swapping Bruno and Tonali around in the midfield so Bruno plays RCM? I would be open to trying it but I don’t care what anyone says, this midfield trio doesn’t make us better for it. Yes, they are better than Sean Longstaff or Joe Willock as individual players, but as a balanced trio they’ve been poor on the whole.

So what Newcastle team v Arsenal should we go with?

I like the two Joes together on the left as I think we are a better unit for it, tougher to play against and together they are simply excellent as a partnership, but I’d be wary of starting Joe Willock twice in three days, as I still don’t think he’s fully fit yet.

So my suggested Newcastle team v Arsenal would be: