Preview: Newcastle United v. Arsenal

Fabianski is out for the season. "Club in crisis," says the Mail, ridiculously...


St. James' Park, Newcastle upon Tyne

Saturday, February 5

3:00 p.m. GMT, 10:00 a.m. EST

• Referee: Phil Dowd
• This Match, Last Time: Newcastle 1 - 3 Arsenal (March 21, 2009)
• Reverse Fixture: Arsenal 0 - 1 Newcastle
• All-Time in All Competitions: 65 Arsenal wins, 66 Newcastle wins, 36 draws
• Arsenal's Recent Form: D-W-D-W-W-W
• Newcastle's Recent Form: L-W-W-D-D-L

Predicted Line-Up

guesses in red

Szczesny

Sagna - Koscielny - Djourou - Clichy

Diaby - Wilshere

Walcott - Fabregas - Arshavin

van Persie

Subs from: Almunia, Squillaci, Gibbs, Denilson, Rosicky, Bendtner, Chamakh

Out: Song (thigh), Nasri (hamstring), Fabianski (shoulder), Vermaelen (Achilles)

Arsenal News and Notes

• Stay ready, Wojciech! Lukasz Fabianski is traveling to Germany for surgery on his injured shoulder. He's out for the season.
• Alex Song took an accidental kick to the thigh from Laurent Koscielny in the first half against Everton and could not walk on it after. He'll be short for this match.
• Samir Nasri will need about three weeks for his hamstring injury.
• And how long do we have left on Vermaelen's injury? Four weeks? Four months? Four years?
• Arsenal has won three straight in league play for the third time this season. The last time Arsenal entered a league fixture on such a streak, they lost to Newcastle.
• This is the first time this year that Arsenal has won six straight across all competitions.
• Arsenal has won their last two matches away from home, but at no point this year have they won three straight away fixtures.

Newcastle News and Notes

• As part of this week's transfer frenzy, which Arsenal watched from the sidelines, Newcastle sold Andy Carroll to Liverpool for a bajillion dollars.
• Newcastle signed Stephen Ireland on loan from Aston Villa. Turns out, he's hurt and will miss two weeks.
• Shola Ameobi's broken cheekbone further depletes the Magpies' attacking options.
• Ryan Taylor (ankle) has returned to training, but another four remain out: Dan Gosling (knee), Steven Taylor (hamstring), Alan Smith (ankle), and Hatem Ben Arfa (broken leg.)
• Newcastle are winless in four matches across all competitions, a run which started by crashing out of the FA Cup to Stevenage.

Match Facts

• In the reverse fixture, Andy Carroll scored just before halftime to give Newcastle a 1-0 victory at the Emirates.
• Arsenal has already won at St. James' Park this year, knocking Newcastle out of the Carling Cup with a 4-0 fourth round win.
• The Gunners had been unbeaten in nine against Newcastle before November's loss at the Emirates.

The Referee

• The referee is Staffordshire-based Phil Dowd.
• Arsenal's experience with Dowd has not been the best this season. He's taken charge of the 1-1 draw at Sunderland, the 3-2 loss to Spurs, and the 1-1 FA Cup draw with Leeds. Arsenal won both matches they played that were worked by Dowd last year.
• Newcastle's experience with Dowd has been highly pleasant, however. He's taken charge of their 5-1 derby thrashing of Sunderland and the 4-3 win at Stamford Bridge that saw Chelsea out of the Carling Cup.
• In 24 matches (20 league, 4 cup) he has shown 86 yellow cards and 8 red cards, one of which was to Alex Song.

Around the League

• These are the reverse fixtures of those played November 6-7.
• Saturday: Stoke City v. Sunderland; Britannia Stadium, Stoke-on-Trent
• Saturday: Aston Villa v. Fulham; Villa Park, Birmingham
• Saturday: Everton v. Blackpool; Goodison Park, Liverpool
• Saturday: Manchester City v. West Bromwich Albion; City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester
• Saturday: Tottenham Hotspur v. Bolton Wanderers; White Hart Lane, London
• Saturday: Wigan Athletic v. Blackburn Rovers; DW Stadium, Wigan
• Saturday: Wolverhampton Wanderers v. Manchester United; Molineux, Wolverhampton
• Sunday: West Ham United v. Birmingham City; Boleyn Ground, London
• Sunday: Chelsea v. Liverpool; Stamford Bridge, London