Match day thread - NUFC v Arsenal

[Toondes]

Arsenal (h)

Sunday sees Newcastle host the Gunners at a sold-out St. James' Park in a Premier League fixture kicking off at 1.30pm, live on Sky Sports.

Rafa Benitez has seen his side win their last three home games without conceding a single goal - their best run of form at SJP since a trio of 1-0 wins in October and November 2014.

Arsenal have won the most recent ten meetings between the two sides, with United not taking any points since a 0-0 draw at Gallowgate in 2011.

And it's 13 games since the Magpies last won this fixture - a 1-0 success at the Emirates in 2010.

You need to have a long memory to remember the last time we beat them here: Nolberto Solano's goal in 2005 giving us a 1-0 success. Since then, we've drawn four and lost six league & cup games.


Ayoze Perez has scored in his last two appearances but never managed three in a row for Newcastle: he's 17/2 first scorer and 11/4 anytime scorer.

Travel:

There are no Metros between South Gosforth and Heworth all day Sunday April 15th. Replacement bus service 900 will connect all affected stations and also run through to/from Regent Centre.

No Metros will call at Ilford Road, West Jesmond, Jesmond, Haymarket, Monument*, Central Station, Gateshead, Gateshead Stadium and Felling.

* Metros on the St James to Wallsend route are running and will continue to serve Monument.

NUFC: Islam Slimani will be eligible to play after sitting out the visit to his parent club, Leicester City.

AFC: Arsene Wenger's were in Europa League action away to CSKA Moscow on Thursday, drawing 2-2 to advance to the last four on a 6-3 aggregate.

Midfielder Granit Xhaka didn't travel due to illness, while striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang wasn't eligible to play in the competition.

Sunday saw the Gunners win a third successive PL game (all at home), beating Southampton 3-2 at the Emirates. However they are without a PL win on the road in 2018, having drawn at West Brom and lost at Bournemouth, Swansea, Tottenham and Brighton.

Midfielder Mohamed Elneny was red-carded against Southampton but following a successful appeal will now be available for the trip to Tyneside. However the game will come too soon for Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

Referee: Anthony Taylor - just the one outing for this whistler from the Manchester area in 2017/18: the scoreless home draw with Brighton. Previous to that, Taylor took charge of our 5-1 thumping of Spurs at Gallowgate back in May 2016.


UK TV: Live on Sky Sports

Overseas TV:
Astro SuperSport 3 (Malaysia)
beIN Sports MENA HD 2
beIN Sports MENA HD 11
beIN Sports THA HD 1
Canal+ Sport 2 Afrique
Canal+ Poland +HD
Cosmote Sport 1 HD
Cytavision Sports 2 +HD
DAZN Europe/Japan
Diema Sport 2 HD
Digi Sport 1 (Svk)
ESPN Brazil
Flow Sports
Futbol 2 (Ukraine)
GO Sports 2 (Malta)
HotStar (India)
LeTV Sports HD
MATCH! Futbol 1 +HD
mio Stadium 102/108
Movistar Futbol +HD
NBC Sports Network (USA)
NTV+ Sport Online (Russia)
Optus Sport (Australia)
Play Sports HD2
S Sport (Turkey) +HD
Setanta Kazakhstan
SFR Sport 1 HD (France)
SKY NET Sports 6 +HD
Sky HD (Mexico)
Sky Planeta Football (Mexico)
Sky Sport 3 Italia +HD
Spiler TV (Hungary)
Sport 1 Israel +HD
Sport 24 at sea
Sport TV3 Portugal +HD
SportKlub 1 Cro/Mon/Ser/Slov
SportsNavi Live (Japan)
SportsNet Ontario HD
SPS HD (Mongolia)
Star Sports Select 2/HD2 (India)
SuperSport 3 HD (Za)
SuperSport Maximo 1
Telekom Sport RO1/5
TV2 Sport Premium HD
TV2 Sumo
TV3 MAX (Denmark)
Viaplay (Denmark/Finland/Sweden)
Viasat Football (Finland)
Viasat Sport Baltic
VOO Sport World 1 (Belgium)
Watch ESPN Brazil
Ziggo Sport Select (NL)
Ziggo Sport 14 (NL)
UK Radio: Live on BBC Radio 5 Live

Local Radio: Live on BBC Radio Newcastle



If you don't have a ticket, The Ware Rooms on Carliol Square will have the game on their big screen TVs with various food and drink promotions.

Once again, all pints are half price during the game and there will be other food and drink promotions.

The Ware Rooms are at 17 Carliol Square NE1 6UQ - 5 minutes walk from both Monument and Manors Metro.

Travel:

There are no Metros between South Gosforth and Heworth all day Sunday April 15th. Replacement bus service 900 will connect all affected stations and also run through to/from Regent Centre.

No Metros will call at Ilford Road, West Jesmond, Jesmond, Haymarket, Monument*, Central Station, Gateshead, Gateshead Stadium and Felling.

* Metros on the St James to Wallsend route are running and will continue to serve Monument.

A Nexus spokesman said: "We're sorry for the inconvenience this may cause and urge fans to plan their journeys in advance and to allow enough time to get into Newcastle for the start of the game.
"An enhanced replacement bus service 900, will be in operation. These buses depart from Regent Centre and from Heworth every five minutes. Extra buses are being provided in this area from 11am until 6pm.

"Additional Metro services will also be provided into Newcastle city centre via Wallsend for passengers heading in from the North Tyneside coastal areas.

"Newcastle United's match against Arsenal was selected by Sky Sports for live TV in an announcement that was made on February 27. The game was moved from its original 3pm slot on Saturday 14 April to 1.30pm the following day, Sunday 15 April, so it now coincides with the planned Metro modernisation work which requires a line closure.

"Those works had already previously been moved from a scheduled date last October due to a clash with the Newcastle United game against Liverpool, which was also switched for television coverage.

"We are unable to postpone this work again. We have to carry out important work on signalling cables that are vital for the smooth running of Tyne and Wear Metro services."


Roads around SJP will be traffic free for 20 minutes either side of the final whistle, with barriers closed at these junctions:

Strawberry Place/Leazes Park Road
Strawberry Place/Barrack Road
Strawberry Place/St James Street
Strawberry Lane.

Stats:

Gunners in Toon - PL era:

2015/16: Lost 0-1
2014/15: Lost 1-2 Sissoko
2013/14: Lost 0-1
2012/13: Lost 0-1
2011/12: Drew 0-0
2010/11: Drew 4-4 Barton 2, Best, Tiote
2010/11: Lost 0-4 (LC)
2008/09: Lost 1-3 Martins
2007/08: Drew 1-1 S.Taylor
2006/07: Drew 0-0
2005/06: Won 1-0 Solano
2004/05: Lost 0-1
2003/04: Drew 0-0
2002/03: Drew 1-1 Robert
2001/02: Drew 1-1 Robert (FAC)
2001/02: Lost 0-2
2000/01: Drew 0-0
1999/00: Won 4-2 Speed 2, Shearer, Griffin
1998/99: Drew 1-1 Hamann
1997/98: Lost 0-1
1996/97: Lost 1-2 Shearer
1995/96: Won 2-0 Ginola, Ferdinand
1994/95: Won 1-0 Beardsley
1993/94: Won 2-0 Cole, Beardsley

Full record v Arsenal:




Upcoming Premier League fixtures:

Sat 14.04.2018:
Southampton v Chelsea (12.30pm) Sky
Burnley v Leicester City (3pm)
Crystal Palace v Brighton (3pm)
Huddersfield Town v Watford (3pm)
Swansea City v Everton (3pm)
Liverpool v Bournemouth (5.30pm) BT
Spurs v Manchester City (7.45pm) Sky

Sun 15.04.2018:
Newcastle v Arsenal (1.30pm) Sky
Manchester United v WBA (4pm) Sky

Mon 16.04.2018:
West Ham v Stoke City (8pm) Sky

[Uncle Paul]

I think we will win this. Rafa has us solid and I really believe we will out muscle them and put up more of a fight than they can. I know Gayle gets some stick but I can see him giving Mustafi some problems as he enjoys playing off the shoulder, something Mustafi seems uncomfortable with.

Diame and Shelvey in midfield will be 2 powerhouses, and when on their day as in the Manchester United game, they can be a match to most midfields in the league, not through being more talented, but with being solid and not giving up possession easily.

Prediction: Newcastle 3 Arsenal 1

[bodacious benny]

Looking forward to this. Can play with a bit more freedom, with Southampton losing we're still 10 points clear of the bottom 3 and certainly safe.

[Chappy]

Feeling fairly confident today like

[Tsi]

Feeling fairly confident today like

Me too, going for 1-0 Perez

[UlversToon]

Feeling fairly confident today like

Me too, cautiously optimistic that we can get at least a point today.

[The Deluded Pablo Diego Jose Francisco]

Everybody seems confident today....

Probably lose now...

[Tsi]

[tweet][/tweet]

[Tsi]

No Merino again

[jimileysbaldhead]

I'm even more confident now I've realised we're at home, for some reason I thought we were away...

[Remember Colo]

No Merino again

The rumours of his summer departure will continue.

[bodacious benny]

Yeah, weird that he's not even on the bench.

[Don Sholeone]

Arsenals team looks very underwhelming, big chance for us today I think.

[Remember Colo]

Yeah, weird that he's not even on the bench.

I also don't think we've looked stout when Hayden's come on late in matches either, which isn't necessarily his fault, but I haven't thought he's clearly earned the spot over Merino even making the bench.

[UlversToon]

This is working for me at the moment if anybody needs a stream - http://streamspn.com/tv/nbcsn

[bodacious benny]

Henry's beard glitter looks f***ing stupid

[seatonsluicetoon]

‘We are the Geordies, the cock of the north’

[Tsi]

‘We are the Geordies, the cock of the north’

[The Deluded Pablo Diego Jose Francisco]

1-0 Arsenal

[Hjl]

hmm, that was a good goal....