Arsenal vs Newcastle United
Now let’s not pretend this is a high-octane Premier League encounter.
Without trying to dampen the enthusiasm of any SBOTOP fans who are hugely excited about the club friendly meeting at the National Stadium in Singapore, it is realistically going to provide us with very few, if any, clues into what will happen when the real action gets underway in three weeks’ time.
Yet friendly highlights may still be forthcoming as Arsenal and Newcastle fine-tune and ensure players’ fitness continues to improve ahead of the big kick-off.
Talking Points
As it stands, all the focus is on one player who is not even in Singapore.
The news that Newcastle’s star frontman Alexander Isak is open to a move away from Tyneside after three successful seasons in the North East will come as a blow to the Toon Army faithful.
This is a player who netted 27 times in 42 appearances in all competitions for the club last season yet, the official line from the club for his absence from the 30-man squad for the pre-season tour of Asia, is that the Swedish striker is missing out with a minor thigh injury.
The reality is that Isak appears to have been unsettled by interest from elsewhere and the fact it seems a number of Europe’s top clubs are aware the frontman is now looking to take the next step in his career.
At the same time, many of them will realise Isak can not be prized away from Newcastle United for anything less than a king’s ransom.
Of course, the club does not need to sell him, would be mad to sell a player who was as good as any forward in English football last term and will be needed as his team prepares to juggle Premier League and Champions League exertions (for the second time in three years) next season.
One of his admirers is Newcastle’s opponents this weekend who, presumably, would love to bring him to London.
With Isak out of reach though, Arsenal have set their focus on another scoring sensation, this time one from Portugal.
Viktor Gyokeres has been a sensation at Sporting Lisbon, scoring 97 goals in 102 appearances. Having signed for £20.5 million from Coventry just two years ago, the 27 year-old helped Sporting to the league title in each of his seasons with them – plus the Portuguese Cup in the last one.
He is the latest pending arrival in a spending spree for Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta and his sporting director, Andrea Berta, who have already overseen the arrivals of goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga (from Chelsea), Martín Zubimendi– the Spanish midfielder who turned down Liverpool last term – from Real Sociedad, Christian Nørgaard (the former the Brentford captain) and Noni Madueke (also from Chelsea) for a combined £118.5 million.
Then there’s Cristhian Mosquera who has travelled to Singapore to link up with the squad on their pre-season tour. The 21-year-old, who represented Spain at this summer’s European Under-21 Championship, has signed a five-year contract with the option of a further year.
All in all, it should mean Arsenal are better protected from a repeat of the injuries that firstly damaged their credentials last autumn and then ended any chance of a recovery in late January/early February.
With no Isak or Gyokeres in Singapore, many thoughts will be on absent friends this weekend and, make no mistake, the result of the game does not matter.
However, given it’s a contest between two big money Premier League clubs with sky-high ambitions for the upcoming season, it still should be compelling fare.
History
What a rich history these two clubs have, dating back to their first ever meeting in 1893.
Traditionally, Arsenal have the edge with 86 wins to the Toon’s 72 and a further 39 draws.
However, in recent years it has been one-sided as Arsenal have actually won 21 of their last 26 meetings.
That was until last term.
They lost out 1-0 in the North East in early November when the in-demand Isak scored the only goal of the contest just 12 minutes in.
And, of course, they were 4-0 winners in their two-legged League Cup semi-final.
Isak and Anthony Gordon were on target in North London before Jacob Murphy and Gordon again scored the goals in the second leg.
Newcastle have only scored in six of their past 15 meetings with the Gunners. In the league fixture on the penultimate weekend of last season, Declan Rice notched the only goal of the contest to seal their place in next season’s Champions League.
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