Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson is expecting Arsenal to return to winning ways when they play Newcastle in the Saturday lunchtime kickoff tomorrow.
The Gunners were on the wrong end of a chastening 4-0 defeat to Liverpool last weekend, but Merson believes his former club will have a much better afternoon against the Premier League’s bottom side:
“Newcastle didn’t get a particularly great result against Brentford the other day, but they did have a good game. Their fans want to see good football from them, but I don’t see them troubling Arsenal this weekend. Arsenal were on a 10-game unbeaten streak before Liverpool ended their purple patch. Newcastle showed signs of improvement against Brentford but will find it difficult to keep Arsenal at bay.”
Merson has gone with a 3-0 win for Arsenal, which isn’t an unfair prediction, considering the Magpies have still not managed to win a league game so far this campaign.
New manager Eddie Howe will be in the dugout for the first time, though, and going by their 3-3 draw against Brentford last Saturday, it looks like they will come to the Emirates with an attacking mentality.
Be that as it may, the Gunners are generally pretty solid defensively (if we disregard the Liverpool result) and you would back Mikel Arteta’s side to pick off Newcastle and secure a comfortable victory.
