Whether April Fool’s Day is ever a good day for a match remains unclear, but for Arsenal and Newcastle, the game is on whether they like it or not. Who will win and who will leave with egg on their face, bonusbets.com looks at the current form of both teams and the views of the pundits.
Arsenal
This is a home game for the red team, and they are often better at home. They are also sitting fourth on the table which is a strong position to be in. The Gunners are delighted to be back in this position having kicked Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team down to fifth, but the battle is far from over as the points are so close that at this stage the important final Champions League places are still up for grabs. Their game history is strong they have chalked up four out of five wins, with just one draw and the team are looking confident despite some injuries.
Unai Emery has players returning from the training camp in Dubai so it looks hopeful that Danny Welbeck and Rob Holding might now be declared match fit after long-term injuries left them out of action. There is some doubt over Aaron Ramsey as he was forced to leave the Euro 2020 match for Wales due to a thigh injury, but the team are hopeful he will be fit enough for this match, as the midfielder was strong up until this point. Alexandre Lacazette and Mesut Ozil are also headed back from Dubai, so we expect them to be in the line up on the first of April when the two teams meet.
Newcastle
Bottom half of the table Newcastle currently resides in 13th place with just one win, one loss and three draws making up their last five fixtures however it has largely been an improving form, pulling a win against Everton and a draw when they met Bournemouth. While a win would neither be likely or have much impact on their own position when they meet Arsenal, blocking the three points against the reds will hurt them a lot more as they look to prevent Manchester United taking back fourth place.
Rafael Benítez will be well aware that his team are the underdogs for this match, and it is much more likely that they will leave the Emirates Stadium with no points, but that won’t stop him pushing his team for a solid performance. Some of his team have been away on national duty, and three, in particular, gave stunning performances for the country teams. He is Newcastle’s top scorer, and when Salomon Rondon took to the pitch for Venezuela, he scored in the sixth minute. There are several teams sniffing around to take Martin Dubravka away from Newcastle next season and his game for Slovakia further evidenced the talent of this goalkeeper who defended 16 attempts at goal leaving a clean sheet at the end of the match. Finally, Fabian Schar who is still on a suspension for Newcastle redeemed his reputation slightly when playing for Switzerland and helped his team to a 2-0 victory.
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