Newcastle United travel to Arsenal on Saturday lunchtime looking to get their first win of the season.
While, naturally, that is a hugely depressing thing to say as we approach the 13th game of the campaign, spirits would have been lifted following the appointment of Eddie Howe and an attacking performance at home to Brentford last week.
Clearly, Mikel Arteta’s side offer a daunting task. Indeed, though they lost to Liverpool last week in resounding fashion, Arsenal had enjoyed a ten-game unbeaten streak prior to their trip to Anfield and had largely beaten teams in the bottom half of the table during it.
There are little in the way of fresh injury concerns for Howe at the moment and, frankly, Newcastle’s strengths lie in attack until the January transfer window at least, so it’s hard to expect too many changes from the Brentford game.
According to The Chronicle, Joelinton is likely to keep his place after impressing last week
Newcastle predicted XI: Darlow, Murphy, Lascelles, Schar, Clark, Ritchie, Shelvey, Fraser, Saint-Maximin, Wilson, Joelinton
Injured: No fresh concerns
Kick-off: 12.30pm, Emirates Stadium