Newcastle United have a chance to make a statement on Monday when they take on Arsenal - proving they can mix it with Champions League level opposition ahead of a summer of crucial investment.
Consecutive defeats to Liverpool and Manchester City showed just how far the Magpies are from the league’s two elite clubs, but Arsenal are the kind of team that they hope to be challenging in the near future. Newcastle will have goals next season to be part of the pack pushing for Europe and they can strengthen their bid with a win on Monday.
Eddie Howe will be aware of a key selection problem for Mikel Arteta, who has hinted that he will be without any fully-fit senior centre-backs for the trip to St James’ Park. Rob Holding was sent off for a needless elbow on Heung-Min son during Thursday’s 3-0 defeat at Tottenham, while Gabriel’s hamstring strain compounding their derby-day misery - both will miss Monday’s trip to Newcastle.
READ MORE: Newcastle United can send Premier League rivals a message for next season with win against Arsenal
That leaves Ben White who returned to the Gunners squad during the week after a thigh injury picked up against Manchester United in April, but he was only fit enough for the bench. He will likely be rushed back into the starting line-up as a matter of necessity - but who joins him in the middle remains to be seen.
Speaking in the build-up for the trip to Newcastle, Arteta admitted he may have to ‘modify’ certain positions in order to avoid fielding academy players.
“Good question. I will know probably more tomorrow.” Arteta said when asked how he will line up defensively on Monday. “We want to extend this period as much as possible to understand how they are recovering, how they are feeling, assess them and tomorrow we will know more about how they are.
“We will have to modify certain positions to try to make it work because we don’t have more defenders. And even though we have academy defenders they haven’t experienced a lot those positions because they are not specified central defenders. It is something that we will try to find a way.”
The likelihood is that Arteta will drop one of Mohamed Elneny or Granit Xhaka into the defence, which gives Howe and Newcastle a chance to exploit their opponent's problem.
Should the Gunners boss opt for Xhaka, the Magpies can focus the pace of their attack on the Swiss international who can struggle against speed and is vulnerable to direct dribbling. Allan Saint-Maximin could give Xhaka nightmares if he were to play out of position at centre-back and open up spaces for the likes of Miguel Almiron or Joelinton to run into.
Egyptian international Elneny would offer slightly more mobility, but at just 5ft 9in lacks the physical dominance needed. If Arteta deploys the 29-year-old then Chris Wood can pull onto the midfielder-cum-defender and bully him physically. Arsenal’s intelligent pressing may force the Magpies to play long often, but if they can pin Wood onto Elneny then the chances are they will be able to force their way up the pitch.
Neither option is ideal for Arteta in what is a must-win game for his side, but these are desperate times for the Spanish manager. Arsenal have gone from comfortably being fourth and with an almost fully-fit back-line to now needing a result to climb back above Tottenham with not one centre-back fully fit.
And there is no better chance for Howe’s men to take advantage of their fragility and send a message to a future top-four challenger.
