Arsenal legend Ian Wright has made a bold prediction for the Premier League clash between Arsenal and Newcastle United at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.
The Gunners have suffered back-to-back defeats to Bournemouth and Manchester City in the top-flight. Despite this, they are still well within the title race.
Man City only managed a slender 1-0 win over Burnley yesterday. As a result, the Cityzens are only top of the table ahead of the Gunners in terms of goals scored.
Hence, Arsenal have been handed a timely boost in the title pursuit, and must now prove their title credentials by winning their final five games with commanding scorelines.
First up, the Gunners host the Magpies at the Emirates on Saturday. Eddie Howe’s side have been a bogey club in recent years, but Wright expects a solid victory on home turf.
The Arsenal legend predicted the Gunners to win by a 2-0 or 3-0 scoreline, and believes the club have got it in them to produce such a result after back-to-back league losses.
He said on The Overlap: “They need to step into that team and try to make them understand what it’s going to take to finish this off because everybody in there will be having doubts, there’s nothing wrong with that. We’re winning this game [vs Newcastle], either 2-0 or 3-0. I think we have [got that in us]… 3-0! We need that kind of result.”
Arsenal have had a tough spell since the international break, winning just one of their five games across all competitions. That victory also came from a stoppage-time goal against Sporting CP.
Despite this, the Gunners should go into Saturday’s game with some optimism. They had a good second half against the Cityzens on the road last weekend and could have won on another day.
Eberechi Eze and Gabriel Magalhaes both hit the woodwork, while Kai Havertz missed two glorious chances. With some better luck and finishing, things could have been entirely different.
Arsenal have beaten Newcastle in their last two meetings, home and away. The Magpies are on a freefall at the moment with three straight losses and are languishing 14th in the league standings.
The Gunners need a quick start off the blocks with a goal this weekend to ease the nerves around the Emirates. The fans must get behind the team after the poor atmosphere in the Cherries loss.