Arsenal vs Newcastle United Preview: Gunners look to build momentum

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Arsenal continue their pre-season preparations when we take on Newcastle United at the National Stadium in Kallang, Singapore, on Sunday afternoon.

After beating Watford in a behind closed doors friendly, the squad flew out to Singapore for our pre-season tour of Asia. Our first test saw us beat AC Milan 1-0 last week – Bukayo Saka scoring the only goal of the game early in the second half.

It was a solid run-out for the boys and got some important minutes in the legs ahead of what’s going to be a pivotal season in Mikel Arteta’s tenure. We also saw debuts for Martin Zubimendi, Christian Norgaard and Kepa Arrizabalaga following their moves to Arsenal this summer.

Perhaps the highlight of the game was an impressive cameo appearance of the bench for wonderkid Max Dowman. Despite being just 15, the attacking midfielder didn’t look out of place and showed glimpses of his enormous potential. I expect the teenage sensational to get more minutes against Newcastle this weekend and hopefully he can continue to impress.

We could also catch a glimpse of another new signing for Arsenal. Cristhian Mosquera completed his move from Valencia and has trained with the first team in recent days so we may see him at some point if the medical team think he’s ready.

Viktor Gyokeres has now completed his long-awaited move from Sporting Lisbon. The club recently announced his arrival in a deal that has cost an initial £55m with a further £8.5m in add-ons with the striker signing a five-year contract. It’s a significant investment from the club but Arteta has finally got a new No.9 who should add a clinical edge up front and Gyokeres will be a hugely exciting signing.

The 27-year-old is expected to be unveiled to the crowd before the game against Newcastle but he won’t play any part in the match. He could, however, make his non-competitive debut against Tottenham Hotspur next week.

No Isak

Newcastle is the next test for the Gunners and Alexander Isak won’t be available for the Magpies after asking to leave the club this summer.

The Swedish international was reportedly Arsenal’s first choice striker target but a £120m+ valuation was too steep and we pivoted to Gyokeres. Unfortunately, Isak has since requested to leave St James’ Park but it came too late for Arsenal and he now seems destined to join title rivals Liverpool.

It will be a huge blow to Newcastle if they lose Isak and his absence was sorely felt during their 4-0 hammering by Scottish champions Celtic in their last pre-season outing.

Eddie Howe will be demanding a much-improved display against Arsenal this weekend. The last time the two clubs met, Arsenal ran out 1-0 winners in the Premier League two months ago but that came after three consecutive Newcastle victories.

How to watch

The game will kick off at 12:30pm UK time and can be watched exclusively live via Arsenal.com for those with a pre-season pass.

Alternatively, fans in Asia can buy Arsenal tickets for the game via Seatsnet.com and watch all the action live in person.

Team news

Arsenal will be without Gabriel Magalhaes as the Brazilian international is recovering from a minor knock that he picked up in training recently. Gabriel made a swift return from hamstring surgery that ruled him out of the final few months of last season but he is still working his way back to full fitness ahead of the new campaign.

Jurrien Timber is also unavailable as he continues to recover following an ankle operation. The Dutch international is yet to resume full training but isn’t thought to be too far away and could still feature during pre-season.

Gabriel Jesus has started doing work on the training pitch after ACL surgery back in January. The forward is still some way from being able to return to full training so we won’t see him playing any time soon – although he could have played his last game for the club amid reports of a move back to Brazil this summer.

Noni Madueke is still on holiday following his participation in the Club World Cup so he’ll have to wait a little longer to make his debut following his move from Chelsea. Mosquera may be in the squad this weekend but the game comes too soon for fellow new arrival Gyokeres.

As for Newcastle, they’ll be without Isak as he edges closer to leaving the club so Will Osula could start in attack. Lewis Hall could be involved after recovering from a foot injury while new signing Anthony Elanga should get a chance to impress.

Possible line-up

Arteta is likely to rotate his squad and give minutes to as many players as possible so it’s difficult to predict a line-up. David Raya should start in goal while Ben White is likely to continue at right-back.

William Saliba should line-up in the middle of defence with Riccardo Calafiori given the nod ahead of Jakub Kiwior. Myles Lewis-Skelly should start at left-back with Oleksandr Zinchenko on the bench.

Martin Zubimendi could get his first start in the holding role meaning Norgaard settles for a place on the bench. Declan Rice started against Milan and may get another run-out with Mikel Merino among the substitutes.

Ethan Nwaneri started last time out so we could see skipper Martin Odegaard come back in to the starting eleven this weekend. Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz should start in attack while Leandro Trossard may come in for Gabriel Martinelli on the left flank.

Possible Arsenal XI: Raya, White, Saliba, Calafiori, Lewis-Skelly, Zubimendi, Rice, Odegaard, Saka, Trossard, Havertz

Prediction

This is always a tough game these days and even without Isak, I expect Newcastle to give us an extremely difficult match. I’m not a huge fan of playing direct Premier League rivals in pre-season and don’t expect this to be very ‘friendly’. Newcastle are a physical side so the main thing is we come through the game unscathed.

You can’t take too much away from pre-season as the focus is trying new tactics and getting minutes under the belt, but Arteta will want to lay down an early marker ahead of the new season.

I expect a closely fought battle but predict Arsenal to edge it. Arsenal 2-1 Newcastle

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