Newcastle vs Arsenal LIVE: Premier League team news and line-ups as Gunners seek win at St. James’ Park

For Newcastle, meanwhile, Eddie Howe wants a return to the formidable defensive resolve of last season, even if his team received criticism for perceived dark arts at the time.

“We want to make it as uncomfortable as we can for any opposition team coming to St James’ Park. That’s the beauty of playing at home. We don’t want to make this a comfortable environment for any team,” he said.

“When you are winning games, if you are leading games, everything is different compared to when you are chasing games.

“In part, it was over-hyped and talked about more because we were in that position a lot that season. This season, we have not been in that position as often, so you end up being the reactive team trying to chase the game effectively.

“We don’t want to be in that position, we want to be the team in control. But certainly, doing whatever it takes to win – as long as it is within the rules – I’m a firm believer in that.”

The Arsenal boss also issued updates on the squad’s other injury concerns and confirmed that captain Martin Odegaard would be missing the game.

Odegaard is close to a return from an ankle injury picked up on international duty but has not yet finished the final stages of his recovery despite an intention to be fit for Saturday’s match.

“Now is the stage he’s going to start doing some work with us and see how he deals with pain.” the Spaniard said, “With the work rate and the amount of hours he has put in, I don’t know when he will be ready. Hopefully soon.

“Riccy [Calafiori] and Martin [Odegaard] are out definitely. With Ben [White], we don’t know yet. Let’s wait and see.”

Big positive news for Arsenal yesterday. Mikel Arteta said that central defender Gabriel could return to the team in time for the trip to Newcastle following concerns over a potential injury during the draw with Liverpool.

Gabriel was substituted out of the game and hobbled off the pitch sparking concerns that he may be joining the Gunners’ ever-growing list of absentees.

Arteta played down any serious doubts over his fitness on Wednesday night where the 26-year-old defender was in contention to play against Preston in the Carabao Cup. Arsenal won the match 3-0 and Gabriel did not feature.

“We are still assessing him,” Arteta said, “It doesn’t look bad at all. It was much better the next day. Hopefully he’ll be fine. He has done some tests.”

During his pre-Newcastle press conference on Friday morning Arteta provided another hopeful update on the defender’s condition adding: “We have a training session today, if he can complete that, he will be available.”

Good morning and welcome to the Independent’s live coverage of the Premier League, where today we’re headed to St. James’ Park for Newcastle against Arsenal.

Both were victorious in the Carabao Cup in midweek but it’s a big league game for both for different reasons today.