Mikel Arteta has confirmed that William Saliba will NOT be fit for tomorrow’s trip to St James’ Park, with centre-back partner Gabriel Magalhaes facing a late fitness test.
Saliba has missed their last seven games with a back injury and has been a huge miss. In that time, they’ve not kept a single clean sheet in the league, winning just one of their last five.
It was hoped he’d return now Gabriel is also struggling with a knock picked up in Tuesday’s 3-1 win over Chelsea. However, Saliba has already been ruled out, with Gabriel will be assessed closer to kick-off. Either way, it’ll be a patched up defence who take on in-form duo Alexander Isak and Callum Wilson.
Arteta insists it’ll be a “different game” to the one that saw us play Arsenal off the park last May, feeling we were fortunate to come away with a 0-0 draw when we met at the Emirates earlier in the season.
The Spaniard has praised Howe and the players, describing us as a “really good side”, but claims we’ll try to play a “very different game” to his Arsenal team – a sly dig and another pre-match complaint from an opposition manager? 13 goals in our last three games. Not bad for a side that love to waste time!
Here’s what the Gunners boss has had to say on injuries, previous meetings and this Newcastle side
Arteta on Gabriel Magalhaes’s fitness:
“We will have to see tomorrow how he is, but yeah he could not finish the game so that was a big sign for us. We’ll have to see how he is tomorrow.“
Arteta on William Saliba’s back injury:
“Not a lot of progress. He’s feeling better every day but he’s not been able still to have any activity around the first team so we don’t expect him to be with us.“
Arteta on our previous meeting earlier in the season, which ended 0-0 at the Emirates:
“Certainly that was a game I think we deserved to win. We didn’t at the end.
“They are a really good side, they are well coached, they have good players, they have a good environment around the place so they are in a good place.
“We will try to play the game that we want and they will want to play a very different game, that’s for sure. That was the battle when we played them at Emirates Stadium, I think we deserved to win the game.”
Arteta on our convincing 2-0 win over Arsenal last year:
“It’s a very different game (to the one last May). Different players, different game. We’re gonna have to play better than last year that’s for sure because we know at home they’ve been really good.“
