Saka should return to the starting lineup following a brief spell on the sidelines with his return being well timed given that Noni Madueke picked up an injury against Manchester City that will rule out the winger for around two months.

Saka is still Arsenal’s most effective player in the final third despite the additions they’ve made in the transfer window. He’s only started two Premier League matches this season but has already scored his first goal of the campaign which came against Leeds in Arsenal’s 5-0 win over the newly promoted side.

Saka provided 16 goal contributions across just 20 starts in the Premier League last season which was another campaign that was disrupted by injuries. He had 67 shots across these games (3.48 per 90) with 23 of these attempts finding the target (1.19 per 90).

Saka had two shots in the most recent head to head meeting between these sides with one of these attempts finding the target. Crucially, Arsenal were without Bukayo Saka for both legs of their Carabao Cup semi final against Newcastle and desperately missed him as the Gunners failed to score in either game.

This is the best chance Arsenal have had in recent seasons to pick up a win at St James’ Park. Arsenal have lost on their last three trips to the stadium without scoring but the attacking depth they’ve added in the transfer window combined with the availability of Bukayo Saka gives them an opportunity to break that trend.

Arsenal have scored in all but one of their games so far this season. This blank came against Liverpool at Anfield which on paper may not seem like a big deal but Arsenal could have won that game if they had been more bold - Liverpool have only kept two clean sheets across their seven matches in all competitions this season so they were there for the taking to Arteta went with a more attacking setup.

The same can be said for this game, Newcastle have been keeping clean sheets but they’re struggling to carry an attacking threat as they adapt to the loss of Isak. Three of Newcastle’s five games this season have ended in 0-0 draws, Arsenal must take this opportunity to strike with Newcastle unlikely to be as weak as they are now in the latter stages of the campaign.

Arsenal failed to score against Newcastle away from home last season but did score at the Emirates in a 1-0 victory. They’ve also won at St James’ Park under Arteta before with two 2-0 victories sprinkled in amongst the struggles that Arsenal have previously had at the stadium.

Arsenal’s threat from set pieces has continued this season. They’ve won 33 corners (6.6 per game) which is the joint highest in the Premier League across the opening five games of the season.

Five of Arsenal’s 10 goals in the Premier League so far have come from set pieces. It’s an avenue that Mikel Arteta can look to utilise here with Arsenal struggling in recent seasons to break down the low block of Newcastle in open play. 

Gabriel is the best defender in the Premier League when it comes to acting as a shot threat from set piece situations. He’s impossible to mark with his clever movement and this often leads to shots - Gabriel has had four shots across his five Premier League appearances this season (0.80 per 90). 

He was just as much of a threat from set pieces last season with the centre back scoring five goals across all competitions and averaging 0.84 shots per 90 across his 28 Premier League appearances.

Gabriel didn’t feature in the most recent head to head meeting between the sides but did have three shots against Newcastle in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi final between the sides last campaign. 

Newcastle’s shot threat has been blunted so far this season and this is due to a variety of factors. Alexander Isak’s departure from the club is the most obvious reason as to why Newcastle have struggled as an attacking force so far this season but the sending off of Anthony Gordon against Liverpool and an injury to new signing Yoanne Wissa have exacerbated the issue.

Gordon returns for this game which is a massive boost for Newcastle, he loves playing in these games at St James’ Park and scored both home and away in Newcastle’s semi final victory over Arsenal in the Carabao Cup. Newcastle had seven shots on target against the Gunners across those two ties with at least three shots on target in each game.

Newcastle also found the target on four occasions in their 1-0 win over Arsenal at St James’ Park in the Premier League last season. Newcastle even managed to have five shots on target against Arsenal at the Emirates in the reverse league fixture meaning that the Magpies covered this line in each of their four head to head meetings with Arsenal last season.

These fixtures are where Anthony Gordon is at his best. He scored against Arsenal both home and away last season as Newcastle progressed to the final of the Carabao Cup, and he also assisted Alexander Isak’s header which earned Newcastle a 1-0 over the Gunners in the Premier League last season.

It wasn’t just Arsenal that Gordon caused problems for last season, he provided goal contributions against Tottenham, Manchester United, Aston Villa, Liverpool and Manchester City with the majority of these goal contributions coming at St James’ Park. This tells us that Gordon thrives in the big game environment, particularly when playing in front of his home fans.

He has missed the last three games for Newcastle due to his sending off against Liverpool a few weeks ago but did feature in the Champions League and managed to score a consolation goal against Barcelona. 

It’s pretty notable that in the three Premier League matches that Newcastle have been without Anthony Gordon they've only scored one goal. His quality and tenacity is crucial to Newcastle’s attacking set up and I think his return to the side in the Premier League will be marked with a goal or an assist.

I have no idea why Eze didn’t start against Manchester City, he did look a bit off the pace in Arsenal’s win over Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League but should have started against Pep Guardiola’s side with the creative ability he has.

That creative ability will be crucial here and Arteta must be bolder and start Eze. Arsenal have struggled against Newcastle’s effective defensive set up in their trips to St James’ Park over recent seasons but Eze is exactly the type of player that can produce something special to unlock that steely block.

He scored his first goal for Arsenal in their 2-0 win over Port Vale in the Carabao Cup during the week and has provided three goal contributions across his last four appearances for the Gunners. Eze has already had nine shots across his four appearances for Arsenal in the Premier League (3.55 per 90) with three of these attempts finding the target (1.18 per 90).

Jurrien Timber has already received two yellow cards in the Premier League this season with these cautions coming against Manchester United and Manchester City. He was up against Doku last time out and was forced into making the most tackles of any player (5) from 13 duels - he should have a similar load to deal with here up against Anthony Gordon. 

Gordon is very strong when it comes to winning fouls, he’s won four fouls across his two Premier League appearances already this season (2.67 per 90) and was hauled down 71 times across his 34 Premier League  appearances for Newcastle last season (2.61 per 90).

Arsenal have struggled with the atmosphere of St James’ Park and the physicality of Newcastle in recent seasons which has seen them grow frustrated. Arsenal received four yellow cards in this fixture last season with one of them going to Jurrien Timber who committed three fouls with his opponent being Anthony Gordon.