Arsenal vs Newcastle LIVE with Premier League result, final score and reaction today
Follow all the reaction from the Emirates as Eddie Howe returned to the touchline to take on Mikel Arteta’s Gunners
Arsenal returned to winning ways and deepened Newcastle United’s relegation worries as goals by Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli sealed a comfortable 2-0 Premier League win on Saturday.
Bottom club Newcastle had new manager Eddie Howe on the touchline for the first time after he was forced to isolate due to a positive COVID-19 test, but they were well beaten in the end and remain without a league win after 13 games.
Arsenal, whose 10-game unbeaten run in all competitions came to a juddering halt at Liverpool last week, dominated the opening half with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang missing a sitter.
But their patience was rewarded as Saka finished superbly in the 56th minute before substitute Martinelli volleyed the second 10 minutes later with his first touch of the game.
Newcastle’s Jonjo Shelvey was denied by the woodwork in the first half but once they went behind, a 17th defeat in 18 league games against Arsenal looked inevitable.
Arsenal stayed fifth in the table, level on points with fourth-placed West Ham United.
Newcastle have six points and are five behind 17th-placed Leeds United who play later on Saturday.
Arsenal vs Newcastle: Here come the teams
It looks like a fairly chilly day at the Emirates Stadium, lots of fans are wrapped up woolly hats, gloves and scarves. The players make their way out onto the pitch, the odds and history are stacked against Newcastle but can Eddie Howe’s men shock the Gunners today?
Arsenal vs Newcastle: Battle of the managers
Mikel Arteta has won all 10 of his competitive games as an Arsenal player and manager against Newcastle.
Contrastingly, Eddie Howe lost all five Premier League away fixtures against Arsenal when he was Bournemouth manager.
Arsenal vs Newcastle: Smith Rowe can emulate Wright
If he scores today, Emile Smith Rowe will become the first English player to score in three successive home league matches for Arsenal since Ian Wright in 1997.
Arsenal vs Newcastle: Newcastle’s bad run
Newcastle are on their third-longest winless streak in the Premier League, after a run of 14 matches in 1999 and 13 between December 2007 and March 2008.
This is the first time in 66 years that Newcastle haven’t kept a clean sheet after their opening 12 top-flight fixtures in a season.
Arsenal vs Newcastle: Arsenal’s home form
A fifth Premier League home defeat of 2021 would be the most in a calendar year since 1997 for Arsenal, when the Gunners lost six games at Highbury.
However, Mikel Arteta’s side are vying for a third consecutive Premier League home win having taken 13 out of a possible 15 points at home recently.
Arsenal vs Newcastle: Arteta on Lacazette
Alexandre Lacazette has been dropped to the bench for Arsenal today amid ongoing contract negotiations between the player and the club. Lacazette is free to talk to other clubs in January and could be on the verge of an exit at Arsenal with manager Mikel Arteta saying about the situation:
That’s a position that’s happening more and more in football. He [Lacazette] is not the only one, we have a few. That’s something we have to deal with - with contracts that they were coming from a few years ago - with certain particularities. We knew that was the case. I have already spoken with them individually about how we have to handle those situations the best possible way, and that’s it.
“It’s the situation that we have, whether you are concerned or not. Things have happened in the last few seasons for different players, where those possibilities are there. Sometimes the club has more control and sometimes the player has some more control. The important thing is that communication is clear, and the intentions of both parties – while they are together – are very clear.”
Arsenal vs Newcastle: Worrying signs for Newcastle
Newcastle are enduring their longest winless run from the beginning of a league season, 12 games with six draws and six defeats.
The only club to have gone this long without a victory from the start of a 38-game Premier League season and still avoid relegation is Derby County in 2000-01.
Arsenal vs Newcastle: Arsenal looking to bounce-back
Arsenal’s 10-game unbeaten run across all competitions was ended last weekend with a heavy defeat at Liverpool but the Gunners have never lost a Premier League home fixture against the side starting the day bottom of the table, winning 15 times and drawing six.
Arsenal vs Newcastle: Wilson close to a century
Newcastle’s Callum Wilson is one short of 100 career league goals. He scored 61 of them under Eddie Howe at Bournemouth.
Arsenal vs Newcastle: Aubameyang’s form
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has beeen involved in nine goals in eight appearances against Newcastle which includes goals in his five most recent appearances against the Magpies.
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