Arsenal moved back to the top of the Premier League with an edgy 1-0 win over Newcastle United on Saturday.
The victory may have come at a cost, however, with two more Gunners now flagged as injury concerns.
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EZE + HAVERTZ INJURY LATEST
Eberechi Eze (£7.2m) and Kai Havertz (£7.3m) are the players in question.
The two had earlier combined for the only goal of the game, with Eze finishing excellently from a well-worked corner.
But Havertz departed after 34 minutes, with Eze following him off early in the second half.
The initial prognosis doesn’t sound too bad, at least.
“There are muscular niggles. We don’t think it’s too much. We have to wait and see if they’re going to be available for Wednesday. – Mikel Arteta on Eberechi Eze and Kai Havertz
Martin Zubimendi (£5.0m) came off later in the game due to sickness.
Meanwhile, Riccardo Calafiori (£5.6m) failed to appear in the matchday squad, despite Arteta saying on Friday that he’d “probably” be back.
SAKA RETURNS
Someone who did make an appearance in the squad, and indeed off the bench as a substitute, was Bukayo Saka (£9.8m).
He looked bright, too, seeing a deflected shot bounce just wide and teeing up Martin Odegaard (£7.8m) for a saved effort.
“Great. I think he had some very good impact as well in the minutes that he’s played. He’s back, I think he looks sharp, he looks good, he looks fresh. You certainly notice something different in the team, in the stadium, as well, when he comes in. So, we certainly need that.” – Mikel Arteta on Bukayo Saka’s return
After another sub-par showing from Noni Madueke (£6.8m), Saka shouldn’t have any problem reclaiming the right-wing slot; it’s maybe more just a question of minute management for the time being.
“Let’s see how he reacts tomorrow, how he absorbs the load. But he’s so keen, he’s so motivated, it’s the most beautiful part of the season, and he’s with us.” – Mikel Arteta on whether Bukayo Saka needs to be gradually reintegrated
GOING SHORT AT SET PIECES!
Saka’s return is needed as, Eze aside, there isn’t a great deal of attacking inspiration in this Arsenal team at present. This was another sub-1.0 xG match for the Gunners, who only had three first-half shots.
None of the other wingers is consistent enough, while Viktor Gyokeres (£8.8m) had another shocker when coming on for Havertz. Declan Rice (£7.2m) looks like he’s running on fumes a bit, which is understandable after the season he’s had. Rice also seemed to be dropping deeper than Zubimendi at times, although he passed up a good shooting opportunity later on.
There are always set pieces, of course. Arsenal’s winner was their 22nd such goal of 2025/26:
Above: Most set-piece goals in 2025/26
We saw Arsenal go short with their first three corners at the start of this game. Eze’s goal, indeed, came from a short-ish corner; more of a low ball into the box.
Gabriel Magalhaes (£7.1m) owners won’t have been too enamoured to see this; we need crosses for those set-piece strikes!
But Arsenal didn’t abandon the old approach entirely. This was about adding variation to dead-ball situations and trying to catch out the opposition, who will, of course, now be wise to such a set play. Later in the game, we saw the tried-and-tested whipped delivery, with Rice (who only had one corner to take from his side) finding Gabriel. Gabriel Martinelli (£6.8m) was close to scoring from the knock-down.
“We have to adapt to everything that we do in the game. When the teams adapt to certain things, when the teams are so physical that they can defend naturally, you have to find other ways.
“The thing that I like best is the courage of the players. We played them short, and you can see the reaction in the crowd. The second one, we did it again, and Ebs shoots with the left foot and puts it out. The third one, we’re up and we score.
“To have this, I was going to say another word, courage, big courage. In this moment, when the pressure is on, when the reaction is like this, that’s exactly what I want for the team. The players have to make the decisions and believe it’s the best.” – Mikel Arteta
“MUCH BETTER”
Newcastle couldn’t stop the rot in terms of losses but this was a better performance than the displays they’ve served up in recent weeks.
Will Osula (£5.4m), leading the line for the third game running, could have scored seconds into the match when air-kicking a chance. Bruno Guimaraes (£6.8m) fired narrowly over, Sandro Tonali (£5.3m) nearly caught out David Raya (£6.0m), Dan Burn (£5.0m) headed a good opportunity straight at the Arsenal ‘keeper and, with the biggest chance of all, substitute Yoane Wissa (£7.3m) skied a close-range volley from Nick Woltemade‘s (£6.7m) cute chip.
It was better at the back, too, with Arsenal creating little of note from open play – although that’s an ongoing problem for them.
“Yeah, I thought it was much much better from us as a group of men.
“I thought we stood up to the physical challenge of Arsenal. I thought we were much better off the ball. Much better defensive performance. We looked more like our ourselves in that respect. We defended our goal much better today. In recent weeks that’s been a definite weakness. Of course, we’ve conceded a goal and we’ve lost the game, which ultimately is what matters the most, but I think positive signs that hopefully we can rediscover our best defensive mentality which we’re going to need.
“And then the other side of that is I thought it was a better performance with the ball, as well, with Bruno’s return. We were more controlled in our build. I thought we were brave with the ball and we created chances to score as well. So, performance-wise, I’m much more satisfied with that.” – Eddie Howe
Hope for the run-in for the Magpies?
HOWE ON HALL’S BENCHING, BRUNO’S FITNESS + WOLTEMADE/WISSA
Howe’s tinkering continued, as he made five changes. One saw Nick Pope (£5.0m) return between the posts.
Both fit recognised full-backs, Kieran Trippier (£4.9m) and Lewis Hall (£5.4m), were only substitutes. Lewis Miley (£4.4m) and Burn took up those roles.
“Well, it’s always a difficult decision because Lewis is an outstanding player and never for any second doubt his qualities and what he can bring the team. But I felt today for a number of reasons that Dan was the right pick in terms of height and physicality and dealing with Arsenal’s threats. Dan’s never let us down in that position.” – Eddie Howe on Lewis Hall’s benching
After some lukewarm comments about Woltemade and Wissa on Friday, Howe again named both big-money strikers on the bench. But both players came on, nearly combining for an equaliser, and Woltemade in particular impressed. A route back into the side for these pricey pariahs?
“I thought Nick did really well today. I thought Yoane and Nick both both performed well when they came onto the pitch. All our subs delivered good performances.
“If he plays like he did today, um he’ll get loads more minutes and opportunities to impress.” – Eddie Howe on Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa
Bruno came off in the final quarter of an hour but seems to be fine.
“I think he’s okay I don’t know I’ve not spoke to him directly um he’s walking a bit gingerely but I think that’s expected because he’s missed so much football and today was a big effort from him but I thought he was outstanding.” – Eddie Howe on Bruno Guimaraes
