Ahead of Saturday's Premier League match between Arsenal and Newcastle United, hear what the Sports Mole team have to say about the upcoming battle.
Ben Knapton, Site Coordinator: "Arsenal win or disaster"
© Imago / IMAGO / Paul Marriott
Gary Neville said that the Burnley game was the best win for Manchester City that Arsenal could have suffered. The defeat at the Etihad was also the best kind of loss the Arsenal could have suffered.
I was there for the EFL Cup final; the second-half performance was just pitiful from Arsenal. But there were significant improvements at the Etihad.
And you saw Declan Rice at full time, saying to Martin Odegaard “it's not over,” And it’s not over on the basis of that performance against, in my view, still the best team in the country. It certainly isn't over.
It is only goals scored now that's separating them. If Arsenal get a point at the weekend, they're back into first place, but for how long? We don't know, but one point, in my view, is unacceptable. Has to be all three now.
Especially because it's now four domestic defeats in a row for Arsenal across the Premier League, League Cup and FA Cup. Interestingly, Unai Emery never suffered that fate at Arsenal, but Arteta has.
Of course, I'm not comparing Emery to Arteta in terms of Arsenal managerial tenures, but it's an interesting stat for us guys nonetheless.
The biggest gripes for me from Man City were a couple of the selections and substitutions. Arteta’s subs, the his timing of the subs, they've always been a sticking point for fans.
Taking off Eze when he did - I know he has just come back sooner than expected from that calf injury – but he had that great curling shot that hit the inside of the post.
If there's a guy at Arsenal, when you're chasing a game, who can just conjure up a goal out of nothing, Eze is that guy. So it really surprised me to see him taken off when he was. Fitness may have played a part in that, we don't know.
But given Newcastle's form is even worse than Arsenal’s, anything less than three points would be… can I say it would be a disaster? It would be a disaster for us now. Three points or bust this weekend.
Matt Law, Football Editor: "Arsenal fans have to be on side"
I personally don't like the fact that Arsenal play twice before City play again. It takes away from the race a little bit, doesn't it? I think Arsenal did alright in the City game; I was absolutely flabbergasted that Gabriel didn't get sent off.
Apparently you can pull the hair, or the bobble of the hair of someone and get a three-game ban, but if you headbutt someone VAR are absolutely fine with that. That shocked me completely.
This is a really interesting game for me because Newcastle has been so poor recently. But Gordon's out, which have obviously a massive blow for Newcastle, but they have big performances in there. We've seen it a lot.
So this is a very interesting game for Arsenal and Newcastle are looking over their shoulder at Leeds now. It's always the game after you lose, or after you've had a few bad results, this is the real pressure game.
The fans have to be on side. They don't want that nervous energy in the stadium, which we all know can happen at Arsenal. They need to back their team and their team are going to need them.
Oliver Thomas, Senior Reporter: "Worrying times for Newcastle"
© Imago / Every Second Media
They [Newcastle] have been pretty poor. Eight defeats in the last 11 league games, no side's lost more than Newcastle since January. They just seem to be going backwards. The form and recent performances are a cause for concern. Eddie Howe maybe doesn't have the biggest of squads, but there's still a lot of good players.
A lot of Champions League-level players in his team, but Howe doesn't seem to be getting the best out of his group at the moment. It looks like they're going to fail to qualify for Europe. If that's the case, we could end up seeing a lot of high-profile Newcastle players leaving, or at least wanting to leave in the summer.
The likes of Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali, Livramento, possibly Lewis Hall and maybe even Guimaraes as well. And then of course, the manager himself very, how his position will probably be reviewed in the summer.
Arsenal maybe haven't been at their absolute best in recent weeks, but Newcastle have been just as poor, if not, worse. So I think you would still back Arsenal probably to win this one on home soil. For Newcastle it's worrying times at the moment.