Alan Shearer makes 'bad' prediction for Newcastle United vs Arsenal

Arsenal are back in action on Sunday when they take on Newcastle United at St James’ Park in what will surely be a tricky clash. The Gunners need to keep pace with leaders Liverpool, and going into the weekend, they were already five points behind.

Mikel Arteta’s men have typically struggled against Newcastle, butt hey did get the better of them in May, ending a poor run that saw them lose three straight games against the Magpies.

This fixture has been very feisty in recent times, and Newcastle boss Eddie Howe admitted this week that he wants to see that sort of aggression from his team again. He said: “It has always been a competitive game against Arsenal and there has been an edge to those games as both teams are desperate to win. We encourage that. The more competitive we are, the better we play. We need to bring that to the game on Sunday.”

Arteta said in response: “It’s a lot of games that you have to dominate when you play against them, now we have to be ready because they continue so rapidly, so quickly, it’s a really intense match. We will prepare for that, we know that as well, but increasing especially our efficiency and two very specific key things I think it gives us the best chance to win the game.”

It is likely the best game of the weekend in the Premier League, at least on paper, and Arsenal know they need to turn up given they will be going up against a Newcastle side that will be desperate to win having had a disappointing start that has seen them win just one of their Premier League games so far.

But Alan Shearer is siding with his former club for Sunday’s game, backing them to make it four wins out of five against the Gunners. He told Metro: “Huge game for two sides that both drew at the weekend. I think with Newcastle at home, I’m going to go with Newcastle to beat Arsenal in a bad-tempered game. Prediction – Newcastle United win.”

Arteta watched Newcastle’s Barca defeat

Newcastle recently lost their opening Champions League clash against FC Barcelona, and Arsenal boss Arteta says he watched that game, and with the volume dialled up.

“There are two ways to look at that game with a tactical view, it’s on mute or put the volume up and I decided to put the volume up just to understand,” he said. “In every decision, there is an emotional contribution and certainly when you have to play your game and the way you want to play there, you have to be able to do it in that atmosphere and I think that’s beautiful.”

On the importance of the first five minutes of this upcoming game, he added: “The first five minutes are the most important minutes for the first five minutes, and then the next five minutes until the referee blows the whistle. It is everything, momentum, tendencies and feelings in relation to how the team is feeling in that moment on the pitch. But at the end, you need to be dominant for long periods of time to win there and that’s what we’ll try to do on Sunday.”

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