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After kicking off pre-season with a behind-closed-doors win over Watford last weekend and a public friendly victory over AC Milan on Wednesday, Arsenal are set to face their first Premier League opponent in Newcastle United on Sunday.
Speaking ahead of that game, Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe has suggested the Gunners have the upper hand.
“There is a bit of fatigue in the training today,” Howe told his press conference. “I think the players are still adjusting. A definite advantage to Arsenal because they have been here longer. It is a pre-season game and we will be looking to get bits from it.”
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Like Arsenal, Newcastle have already played a couple of pre-season fixtures. Howe’s side thrashed Carlisle United 4-0 on July 12th, a week before Arsenal even played their first match, and they subsequently lost 4-0 to a Celtic side containing Auston Trusty and Kieran Tierney last weekend.
There’s really no reason why Newcastle would be less prepared for a match, it’s just perhaps a question of whether Arsenal will have adapted better to the Singapore heat.
The Carlisle match was at the Newcastle’s training ground, and the Celtic game was at Celtic Park. Unlike Arsenal, Howe’s side are yet to play a match in Asia this summer.
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Newcastle will also be without star striker Alexander Isak for the game, with the centre-forward officially unavailable due to a thigh injury. It’s an open secret that the player has also asked to leave the club this summer.
Sunday’s game is only a friendly, with the two teams playing for pride but primarily to build fitness. If Howe is right to be so pessimistic about his team, it’s a shame there won’t be three points at stake.
