Newcastle have a growing injury list of players, while Sandro Tonali is also unavailable thanks to a betting ban. It makes life difficult for coach Eddie Howe who has had to juggle European commitments with domestic affairs this term. Harvey Barnes, Alexander Isak and Sven Botman are key personnel who are missing for the visit of Arsenal.
The Magpies are slight betting outsiders to claim a victory this weekend and this game will come quickly after an EFL Cup encounter away to Manchester United where it can be expected that a weakened team would be fielded. However, the league form is strong at St James’ Park and the only blot occurred against Liverpool.
Arsenal have only lost one game in all competitions this season although they were somewhat fortunate to come back from two goals down to draw with Chelsea recently. They will have had a midweek engagement away to West Ham days before this encounter and Gabriel Jesus is missing injured right now.
Eddie Nketiah stepped up to the plate against Sheffield United when scoring a hat-trick and the England international will lead the line here, although Arsenal have conceded in their previous three away games at the time of writing. Back in May, the Gunners were able to win this fixture but we think the draw could be a better betting option.