Newcastle United vs Arsenal: Stats Preview

Arsenal are visitors at St James Park, and take on a Newcastle side who don’t really have anything to fight for. Alan Pardew’s men are safe from relegation thanks to their victory over Queens Park Rangers last weekend, and they’re taking on an Arsenal side whose participation in next season’s Champions League still isn’t confirmed.

Arsene Wenger and Alan Pardew have had a turbulent history and they are set to clash their swords again. In their last five meetings, Arsenal has won twice, Newcastle once and two have been draws, one of them being the thrilling 4-4 draw.

In the reverse fixture this season, the two teams made history with the match having the most number of goals this season. It ended 7-3 in Arsenal’s favour.

Newcastle have failed to score in the last two of their home games, going down 0-3 to Sunderland and a whopping 0-6 to Liverpool.

With Theo Walcott scoring a hat-trick in the reverse fixture, many expect him to score again. The 24-year-old is the highest scoring Englishman this season, and the highest scorer for the club. The pacey wide-man has scored 14 goals in the League, whereas Chelsea-departed Demba Ba is still the highest scorer for the Magpies with 13.

In midfield, Mikel Arteta has made 2418 successful passes, the second highest in Europe behind Michael Carrick of Manchester United. The Magpies’ highest passer is Chiek Tiote with 1039.

Alan Pardew’s men can eventually score 44 points, their lowest since being relegated in 2008-2009 with 34 points.

If Arsenal win, they’ll head into the Champions League for the 16^th consecutive time in the Arsene Wenger era.