Arsene Wenger has made three changes to his Arsenal team who defeated Bournemouth on Monday, bringing in Laurent Koscielny, Nacho Monreal and Mathieu Flamini for Gabriel, Kieran Gibbs and Calum Chambers for today's visit of Newcastle.
Teams
Arsenal: Cech, Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Ramsey, Flamini, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ozil, Walcott, Giroud.
Subs: Gibbs, Gabriel, Ospina, Chambers, Campbell, Iwobi, Reine-Adelaide.
Newcastle: Elliot, Janmaat, Coloccini, Mbemba, Dummett, Sissoko, Tiote, Colback, Wijnaldum, Perez, Mitrovic.
Subs: De Jong, Gouffran, Lascelles, Thauvin, Darlow, Toney, Mbabu.
Before the match, manager Wenger revealed Mesut Ozil rarely trains between matches as he looks to keep the in-form German at peak fitness.
The 27-year-old is enjoying a purple patch and has already provided 16 assists in the Premier League this campaign, leading team-mate Theo Walcott to hail him as the season's best player so far.
While the likes of Santi Cazorla, Jack Wilshere and Alexis Sanchez are out injured, Ozil has avoided any problems and become a pivotal part of an Arsenal side which sits top of the table ahead of Saturday's visit of Newcastle.
And Wenger, who was criticised for over-playing Sanchez before he pulled up with a hamstring injury against Norwich last month, is giving Ozil time to rest to avoid burnout.
"Mesut, I gave him a one-week holiday during the international break," Wenger said.
"At the moment he doesn't practice a lot, we rest him a lot between the games.
"He is a guy who once the basic fitness is there between the games, he wants to play.
"There are types of players, sometimes the most technical players, it looks like it demands less energy for them to play - it is just natural for them."
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