We have an opportunity today.

One of the most frustrating part of last season – injuries aside – was that it felt like every time an opportunity opened up for The Arsenal to claw points back on Liverpool, we didn’t take it, so they ended up creeping away from us until the lead they had was so unassailable that there was no real battle for the title that happened. I remember playing Everton at home and we drew 0-0 and I think Liverpool had dropped points against Fulham in the earlier match of the day. I remember heading to the stadium and saying to a few of the lads I’d been in the pub with that “you have to make it count on days like today”.

That day Everton at home was a little more of a winnable game than today’s away match at St James’ Park, but if you want to be Champions then you have to take advantage of any little chinks of light that open up, when they do. Yesterday as a day might have been a great fun one to have a ‘Hate Watch’ given that all of our so-called rivals dropped points other than Man City (who were never going to slip up at home to Burnley), but today has to be a response from The Arsenal that shows our title credentials. Newcastle away has been a hoodoo for us; we haven’t even scored a goal there on our last three visits and the last two 1-0 defeats in the league have felt eerily similar to me.

The first one two season’s ago was that dodgy Gordon goal that Willock admitted afterwards was probably out when he salvaged the ball. At this stage you have to ‘whatever’ about that, but the performance itself i remember being really lacklustre; we didn’t win duels, we looked stodgy up front and we never really troubled an organised and very disciplined Newcastle side who have already shown this season that they have that part of the game as locked down as we do.

Last season’s encounter was probably worse though. I thought we were so poor and it was a game in which Isak scored early, but if we were playing that match for a solid week thereafter we probably wouldn’t have scored. We were so ponderous in attack that day and what I want to see from today is that we create chances. We have to be able to give something for Gyokeres to feed off and we have to stretch Newcastle more than they have been in the last three meetings. In all of those games once we’ve gone behind they’ve sat compact in to their shape and Gandalf’d us for the rest of the 90 left to play.

It’s why I think if we get the first goal today, the game opens up a bit and the dynamic shifts. If Newcastle score we know what they are going to do; they will sit back in to shape and ask Arsenal “go on then, see if you can get through our barcoded wall” – think last week against City, only this time with home advantage. The home crowd will be roaring for the start of this game and if we do what City did against us and score early, that will have the same impact that the Haaland goal had on our home crowd. We were muted. We need to mute the Geordies today.

Arteta has spoken of a couple of things he thinks they will do differently, but I think most of us hope that our line up – if we are sans Odegaard from the start – needs to have a little more creativity in it. I personally have nothing against Merino, I believe there’s a time and a place for him, but I don’t think it is in the midfield with Rice and Zubi today. Sure, it gives us the control we need, but it handicaps us of a more creative outlet on the pitch and if you go a goal behind early on, it can make you look a little stodgy when your opponent reverts to a low/mid-block approach.

Go from Ethan or Eze early in the game.

On the left there might be a question whether it is Eze or Martinelli too and given the week he had last week and how his confidence might be high right now, I suspect Gabi might get the nod. I’ve said it before on social media and I’ll say it here too – Martinelli is a ‘streaky’ player. His goals and his form comes in patches and two in a week, as well as an assist in Bilbao, means he’ll be flying high and so my gut feel says to me that he gets the nod. Arteta loves his work rate too and I have a feeling Howe is going to go with Elanga on the right and Gordon on the left, which means rapid pace and a need for ‘Nelli to do his shuttle runs defensively as well as going forward.

If that happens and if Odegaard is fit, it could mean Eze doesn’t start which will be hard on him, but the reason he took this job at The Arsenal is not just because he is a fan of the club, but because he wants to get better, he wants to improve and he wants to be at a big club and when you are at a big club like The Arsenal, you know that the competition for places is more intense than anywhere in the Premier League. If Odegaard is fit then I have no problem with seeing Eze from the bench.

If Odegaard isn’t fit and Arteta does fancy getting a more creative outlet in the midfield, then I do wonder whether it will be Eze or Nwaneri. Eze normally occupies those left eight positions and that’s where he thrived (albeit more as a ten) for Palace last season, so I would be tempted to tell him to go left eight and then maybe you ask Rice or Zubi to fill in on the right. Alternatively, we do what we’ve been doing this season and have Rice and Zubi drop into a double pivot and tell eze to occupy both left and right half spaces, with Declan alternating those left and right spaces where Eze isn’t. Rice is an intelligent enough footballer to do that, so I don’t see why that wouldn’t work?

Whatever we go with, the prize is clear: Victory puts us to within two points of the Scousers. It puts us to within touching distance with them having gone through the hardest part of the season and it would set us up to have a real run at that top spot between now and November when it gets tricky again.

Go do the business, Arsenal.

Depending on how the game pans out Amanda and I might do a post match pod, but if not I’ll be back tomorrow, then we’ll do a catharsis pod on Monday night.

Laters kids.