Arsenal will try to avoid their first back-to-back defeats in all competitions this season when they make the trip north to face Newcastle United on Saturday.
Arsenal (7-0-3, 24 points) are one of only two unbeaten teams remaining in the Premier League. But with manager Mikel Arteta making wholesale changes to his squad, the Gunners were thumped 3-1 at West Ham in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night.
Arteta’s men hurt themselves when defender Ben White turned a corner kick into his own net early in the first half. But West Ham was excellent after halftime, and by the time Arteta deployed Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Odegaard off the bench, the deficit was three.
“(The level) dropped especially in one phase in the second half and when that happens, you have to compete in a different way to try to recover the momentum in the game and we didn’t do that well enough,” Arteta said. “We know the standards and we know that the way we played, especially in the second half the other day, was not good enough.”
The Gunners visit a Newcastle side coming off a convincing 3-0 Carabao Cup victory over Manchester United on Wednesday night. Miguel Almiron opened the scoring in the 28th minute after entering as a first-half injury sub, Lewis Hall followed eight minutes later, and Joe Willock sealed the win in the 60th minute.
While Saturday’s match represents a chance for sixth-place Newcastle to gain ground, it’s only the start of a busy close to the year, with 12 more games left across November and December.
“That’s going to be a real test for us but we’re enjoying the games,” Howe said. “I have to say, we’re enjoying the different competitions and interchanging between competitions. It’s been a really good thing for us, and we just need to get back to full strength as quickly as possible.”
Arsenal took four points from these teams’ league meetings last season, winning 2-0 at Newcastle and drawing 0-0 at home.
The Magpies’ home defeat to the Gunners marked the last time they’d failed to score at St. James Park until their defeat to Dortmund at the end of last month.