Newcastle vs Arsenal verdict, predicted score, key stats and suggested bets
- George Dempsey
- 6 May 2023
Newcastle United and Arsenal could serve up a Premier League classic when they meet at St James' Park on Sunday afternoon, with both teams looking strong up front and vulnerable at the back.
Newcastle will hope to maintain their six-point cushion in the Champions League places against an Arsenal side battling for the Premier League title.
Date, KO time and TV coverage
Premier League, Sunday May 7, Kick-off 4:30pm
Predicted score
Suggested bets
Newcastle: Win or draw
Both teams to score and over 2.5 goals
Both teams to score
Key stats
Liverpool are the only team to beat Newcastle at St James' Park in their last 30 home matches.
Newcastle have kept back-to-back clean sheets against Arsenal, drawing 0-0 earlier this season and winning this fixture 2-0 last season.
Arsenal have won one of their last five Premier League matches, conceding 12 goals.
Newcastle have had at least one player score a brace in five of their last eight matches. On two occasions, two players registered a brace in the same game.
Team news
Jamal Lascelles (calf), Emil Krafth (knee) and Ryan Fraser (manager's decision) won't be involved on Sunday. Allen Saint-Maximin (thigh) and Sean Longstaff (foot) missed last week's game but are edging closer to a return.
Takehiro Tomiyasu (knee) and Mohamed Elneny (knee) will miss the remainder of the season after undergoing surgery.
Gabriel Magalhaes (knock) is being wrapped in cotton wool and will be assessed as the week goes on. William Saliba (back) has missed some training this week and couldn't be considered for the game against Chelsea.
Newcastle vs Arsenal verdict
Newcastle have embraced the pressure of battling for a Champions League spot and with a six-point cushion between themselves and Liverpool at the start of the weekend, they can see the finish line.
They'll hope for the opportunity to add to that gap on Sunday afternoon but with a game in hand to come, the Toon can start to play with even more freedom.
Eddie Howe's men have found the net 26 times en route to winning eight of their last nine matches. Half of those goals have come at St James' Park where they've reeled off four consecutive victories.
Even before Mikael Arteta's side were humbled by total football at the Etihad, it was starting to look like Arsenal had thrown the title away. They threw away 2-0 leads at West Ham and Liverpool before drawing 3-3 with Southampton at home.
They would have expected six additional points in the circumstances, a total which would have kept the title in their hands regardless. Now they're under pressure to win their four remaining games, which still may not be enough.
The Etihad aside, St James' Park feels like the last place you'd want to visit in such testing circumstances.
The Toon have conceded at least once in 14 of their last 15 matches, so they're vulnerable at the back. The challenge for Arsenal will be keeping things tight at the other end.
The Gunners have been struggling themselves. Arteta's men have allowed two or more goals in four of their last five and haven't kept a clean sheet since March 12th.
Whichever team you think will win the game, you have to fancy they'll need to score more than once, and even that may not be enough.
The odds on both teams scoring are a little bit slim, but may still be worth a bet. A solid-looking option to increase the payout could be over 2.5 goals and both teams to score.
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