Arsenal vs. Newcastle: Date, Time, Live Stream, TV Info and Preview
Arsenal take on Newcastle United in the English Premier League's Monday night football match. The match will complete Week 36 fixtures, and there isn't too much doubt who needs the points more.
Newcastle remain safe and with little to play for, sitting as they do in mid-table, whilst the Gunners are vying with Everton for the fourth Champions League spot in a race that is likely to go to the wire.
Date: Monday April 28
Time: 8 p.m. BST/3 p.m. ET
Live Stream: Sky GO app (U.K.), NBC Live Extra app (U.K.)
TV Info: Sky Sports 1 (U.K.), NBC Sports Network (U.S.)
Arsene Wenger will get the chance to take a first-hand look at Newcastle's in-form striker Loic Remy when the Magpies come to town.
Currently on loan to Newcastle from Queens Park Rangers, the player is known to favour a move to the Gunners in the summer window, per Alan Oliver of the Daily Mirror.
Wenger himself remained coy at the possibility of signing the Frenchman per The Sport Review, but it's easy to understand why his fellow countryman is on his shopping list.
WhoScored.com details the Frenchman's prowess in front of goal. 13 goals and two assists in 24 appearances (two as sub) is a fine return in an underperforming team.
Compare that to the more celebrated Olivier Giroud with 14 goals and seven assists in 33 games, per WhoScored.
With talkSPORT suggesting the player could be available for as little as £10 million, the move presents a "no-brainer" for Wenger.
The only stumbling block to the move could be if Roberto Martinez's Everton pip the Gunners to the fourth Champions League spot.
QPR manager Harry Redknapp noted via talkSPORT:
"Remy wants to play Champions League football next season, so they tell me. The chances of us keeping him are not great if he's got a buy-out clause.
He’s done well at Newcastle, and one or two other big clubs are trying to get him, so there’s every chance he will go.
"
The chance to audition for a potential suitor is surely one that Remy has to take, but it will disappoint Newcastle manager Alan Pardew who remains desperate to keep the player, per Ian Murtagh of the Daily Star.
Current Form
The form table most certainly sits well with the North London side, both in recent matches and also in matches generally against the Magpies, per WhoScored.
Alan Pardew's men come into this match hoping to stop the rot of five straight defeats. Unfortunately, the Emirates isn't a happy hunting ground for Newcastle, where they have lost five of their last six matches.
Although Arsenal have only won two out of the last six Premier League games, they are undefeated at home in the EPL in the last 16.
Given Newcastle's extensive injury list, the end of the season can't come quickly enough, and this could well be a game that cements the Gunners' Champions League credentials with just two to play thereafter.
Arsenal's Defensive Solidity
With Laurent Koscielny returned to the Gunners' starting lineup, Newcastle's less-than-prolific attack bar Remy is likely to be in for a long evening's work.
ESPN noted the excellence of Koscielny's partnership with Per Mertesacker in the heart of the Arsenal back four, and the German clearly enjoys playing alongside the Frenchman, per The Sun via ESPN:
"Laurent is more mobile and I have more height. It fits together perfectly because these days centre-backs are more than just tall defenders whose only job is to head away the long balls.
Laurent is one of the quickest players I've ever partnered and he anticipates things so well, and we feed off each other's strengths and that is the main key to our success this season.
"
If Remy is unable to get off of the mark, don't expect too much from Shola Ameobi, Yoan Gouffran and Dan Gosling, who only have nine goals between them across the entire season, per WhoScored.
Should Arsenal win their remaining three games, then a Champions League berth is assured again.
Slip up and there is every chance Everton will sneak into fourth, and that will be a disaster for a club that has become synonymous with qualification to Europe's premier club competition.
Newcastle by contrast are a team without much going for them at the moment. Their season hasn't been anything to write home about, and the expected loss of Remy will hurt.
For a team that is so important in the locale, owner Mike Ashley needs to ensure investment is made in the playing squad during the summer, in the hope that the Magpies can enjoy a more successful campaign next time out.
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