Arsenal have recovered well from their early shortcomings against Manchester City and Chelsea by winning two matches on the spin against West Ham United and Cardiff City respectively before the international break. The Gunners are now in for a tricky test at St. James’ Park against a solid Newcastle United team who are hard to beat in front of their home supporters.
The North London outfit are in dire need of continuing their winning run if they are to stay in the race for the top 4 spots. However, it won’t be an easy task for the Gunners with the Magpies also looking to bounce back from their difficult start to this season. Here are three tactical changes that Emery could look to make so that his side can come away with maximum points from this encounter.
Mesut Ozil Needs To Start For Arsenal
Emery has already dropped his star player, Mesut Ozil from his starting XI quite a few times this season but the Spanish manager needs to play the German talent more often if he wants to get the best out of his prized asset. Ozil is currently struggling with his confidence and needs his manager to pat him on the back (metaphorically speaking) so that he can turn the corner in his Arsenal career.
If Ozil is firing on all cylinders, then the Gunners are a hard team to stop going forward. Hence, sticking with the German star could be the right call for Emery as he has the talents to make a difference on Saturday.
Play With Both Aubameyang and Lacazette Up Top
Both Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette have linked up well during their time on the pitch together so opting to start with the striking duo could give the away side enough firepower to run riot at St. James’ Park. The pair managed to get themselves on the scoresheet against Cardiff City earlier this month so they would be confident about repeating the same feat at Tyneside this weekend.
Opt To Play A Diamond In Midfield
Emery has often gone for a 4-2-3-1 formation with Granit Xhaka and Matteo Guendouzi operating as the holding midfielders. It could be an ideal fixture to tweak his formation into a 4-4-2 and opt to play a diamond in the middle so that the Gunners have more control in the opposition half. Newcastle are expected to sit back and hit Arsenal in the counter so playing with more players who could join in on the attack could give the away team an edge in this contest.
