Four battles that must be won at The Emirates.
Posted on November 5th, 2010 | 19 Comments |
I’ve been thinking about the weekend trip to Arsenal, and just who Newcastle will need to try to keep quiet if we are to walk away from The Emirates with any points, or indeed if we are to walk away without being thumped, which against Arsenal is always a possibility.
So I thought of having an article that will highlight the key areas that I think Newcastle will need to control if we are to do well on Sunday lunch-time. This isn’t a match preview, that will come later on tonight, or perhaps tomorrow morning when I can get my grubby little hands on all the team-news. Instead this is a few key personal battles that I feel that the players in the black and white shirts will need to win if the odds, which are stacked against us anyway, are to be tipped in our favour.
Cheick Tiote vs Cesc Fabregas.
Cheick Tiote has been marvellous since he arrived on Tyneside, although you could argue that this will be his first real test against a world class player. I don’t mean ‘world class’ in the way that Sunderland think they are, I mean genuinely world class.
A lot of Arsenal’s play has something to do with Fabregas, and he is always willing and able to recieve the ball so he keep an attcking move flowing and keep possesion ticking over. If Cheick can nullify the threat of the Arsenal captain it will be a big step towards knocking Arsenal off of their game.
Jose Enrique vs Samir Nasri.
Samir Nasri appears to be going through a bit of a purple patch for Arsenal at the moment, and he appears to be finding the back of the net with enough regularity to highlight him as a threat.
The pace and trickery of the Frenchman is something that Jose will have to keep an eye on, although Jose himself is no slouch, and being backed up by Jonas Gutierrez should ensure that Jose isn’t left to battle alone.
Jonas Gutierrez vs Bacary Sagna.
Continuing on the theme of our left-side, Gutierrez against Sagna could be an area that could prove fruitful for us.
The combination of Jonas and Jose can worry any team when they are on form, and Newcastle will have to hope that they are both bang on the money come Sunday lunchtime. A lot of attacking enterprise comes from our left-side, and we will need it if we are to give Arsenal some food for thought.
Andy Carroll vs Laurent Koscielny.
If there is one thing that Arsenal don’t seem to enjoy, it is being roughed up, and Andy Carroll will do that all day long against an Arsenal defence that has had questions asked about it in recent years.
If the rest of the team can ensure that they can get the ball to the Gatsehead hitman, he will make sure that Arsenal have a tough of old time of things on Sunday and wll give them plenty to worry about.
Of course, there are more threats than just these four when it comes to Arsenal, but I believe that these are key areas that could make the game go one way or the other. It’s going to be tough no matter what, but if we can stop their most influential players, and trouble their weaker ones, then you never know, we could spring yet another surprise this season.
So there you go. Feel free to agree or disagree as you see fit.
NUFCBlog Author: toonsy
toonsy has written 643 articles on this blog.
think main battle will be between whoevers on thier left woing against barton / simpson