Great work Sam.

Newcastle are in excellent form. They have beaten some of the biggest teams this season and are currently in top 8. This game will be as difficult as they get. The most important thing is to avoid any defensive lapses and make most of our chances. In this regard Giroud will need to step it up. I wouldn't mind starting Bendtner since he is fresh and is willing to fight and maybe a better option atm.

With Ramsey out, Wilshere is going to step in and hopefully step up as well. Some key decisions to make by Arsene in terms of team selection. Rosicky, Wilshere, Flamini, Bendtner, Podolski and Monreal are all fresh. Is it worth a gamble to change half the team?

Won't mind seeing a midfield of Wilshere-Arteta-Ozil with Podolski-Giroud/Bendtner-Rosicky upfront.

We can win this.

Despite their good form and being at home, I can't see Newcastle taking the game to us. Pardew likes to stick with what's working and the way they've beaten the bigger sides this season is to stay solid at the back and counter attack. There's a good chance they'll use the same strategy against us.

The difficulty, of course, is that they're really good at it. They've got some tough, hard working midfielders like Tiote, Sissoko and Anita that'll make it tough for our midfield to play, they've got pace on the counter with Gouffran and Remy and they have Cabaye who can score a screamer or put in a good set-piece. It's a functional set-up that's working well for them.

Alternatively, they can go with Ameobi up front, but I don't think they'll risk leaving two midfielders against our four.

What United, Spurs and Chelsea have in common, though, is that not they're best sides going forward. United and Spurs have both suffered from slow build-up and a lack of creativity, while Chelsea lack balance. We, at least, have a much more cohesive attack, and I think we will trouble them if we can produce some of the attacking play we showed against West Ham, albeit with a bit less openness in midfield.

We'll need to be patient and make sure we don't commit too many forward when trying to break them down, otherwise we'll leave ourselves vulnerable on the counter. Scoring early would really help, for obvious reasons.

I don't see too many changes despite the short turnaround of fixtures. I expect Koscielny will come back in if he's fully fit, and I wouldn't be surprised if Arteta was rested and Flamini and Wilshere started, given they neither played in the last two games and would be a lot fresher than Arteta, who's had to do a lot of work this week. So I'd go with this:


I'm sure we'll see more rotation against Cardiff on New Year's Day, especially since there's nine days (again...) between the FA Cup game against Spurs and our next league game against Villa.

nice preview guys..
Wenger has to make some tough decisions regarding team selection for this match..
i would better see some rotation/changes and the team performing below par, than seeing tired performances from same players with excuse jaded.. we have a good squad with good players.. it is important to give them chances and show trust in them to keep everyone sharp and fit..

imo, Wilshere will certainly be starting.. Rosicky waiting for his chance after resting last game.. Poldi or Bendtner may be chosen as CF.. (wont be surprised if Giroud starts again.. playing away at Newcastle may not be the time for this change).. Flamini waiting to start.. (but no one can provide the calmness and security that we enjoy when Arteta is playing).. and finally keep Verminator or bring back Kos..? it is really hard to drop Verminator especially after last 2 games.. he is not a 3rd choice CB.. it is just his form was poor..

so quite a lot of options there.. i will be really disappointed if Wenger plays the same team again and it goes wrong..

Great Job Sam.

There is no reason why we should not win this game, Newcastle have been playing well but we must get all 3 points. This is one tricky game, and if we take our chances we can really hurt them.
Its never easy playing Newcastle away, we need to start with pace, and get our passes right from the first whistle. Not giving up silly penalties. Control the midfield with Flamini and give Arteta rest.

We need a super sub, and Podolski can do that if Giroud is having night off again. Lat time Giroud played Newcastle he scored 2 goals in few minutes, would be a nice place to start scoring again.

You know this is a personal game for Alan Pardew after whole “Cabaye affair” I think it will be a great game and I hope we put them in their place.

2-1 win, with Theo and Giroud scoring.

Great work Sam

i Would leave rotation for Cardiff and only drop Arteta for this one
with the way Newcastle stand off with front two we would bypass that phase of our build up and let a CB do the distribution
not sure how Flamshere pairing would work though
although you would think there wont be any partnership and they will play apart from each other if started

Aaron will be a big miss with his Goal threat but also offering him self as a passing option or going beyond pressing etc

i would stick with Giroud and hope he finally ends this drought

we can do this

We will not rotate, Wenger hates that word.  

Big win tomorrow, Molecastle will get good beating.  

Who is Moal going to root for?

He says he is newcastle fan but i've noticed he is also a closet arsenal fan

CBarca wrote:Who is Moal going to root for?

He says he is newcastle fan but i've noticed he is also a closet arsenal fan

Who doesn't like Arsenal...

Anyway, it's gonna be tough. I think that goes without saying, but I have a good feeling about this game (usually when I have a good feeling about a game, we seem to feck things up, but hopefully not today)

I'm reading on twitter that Özil will be completely rested for today. So if that's the case, certainly Santi has gotta get the CAM spot with Wilshere next to Arteta. I would like Poldi to start up top, but you just know Wenger that ain't gonna happen.