Arsenal predicted XI vs Newcastle... 'Incredible' 23-year-old given rare chance to start

Despite the lingering disappointment of the Porto loss, Mikel Arteta now needs to refocus his Arsenal players for Newcastle United’s visit.

Arteta will now surely be reminding his players of the five league wins on the bounce they achieved prior to Wednesday’s defeat.

Arsenal remain the most in-form team in the Premier League, and a win over Newcastle could prove a real psychological boost.

The 1-0 loss at St. James’ Park earlier this season was embroiled in controversy and was a real set-back for Arteta’s side.

Similarly, Arsenal’s defeat away from home at the tail end of last season to Newcastle was a real blow to their title hopes.

Therefore, with it increasingly feels as if we’ve reached the ‘business end’ of the season, and a win could do wonders for confidence.

And with that in mind, The Boot Room are expecting that Mikel Arteta will make at least one change to his Arsenal side to face Newcastle.

Mikel Arteta could hand Emile Smith Rowe rare Arsenal chance against Newcastle

Although Arteta would probably like to freshen up his side further, he simply doesn’t seem to have the options available owing to injury.

So for Newcastle’s trip to the Emirates, we expect Arteta will make a single change with ‘incredible’ Emile Smith Rowe replacing Kai Havertz.

In truth, Leandro Trossard could easily drop out as well, with Havertz playing as the striker.

But as will be the case over the next few games, Arsenal could be boosted by the return of one or two injured stars.

Perhaps the players closest to a return right now are Oleksandr Zinchenko, Gabriel Jesus and Takehiro Tomiyasu.

If the Arsenal trio were available against Newcastle, you’d expect Arteta would start at least two of those names.

Zinchenko has been missed, a player who would have helped Arsenal craft attacks in Portugal last night.

In terms of an update, Arteta should provide more clarity in his pre-match press conference before tomorrow’s game.

But were Jesus and Zinchenko available, they could easily come into the side for Trossard and Jakub Kiwior respectively.

All that being said, Paul Merson has predicted that one Arsenal player will ‘have a field day’ against Newcastle tomorrow.