**Newcastle United face title-challengers Arsenal at the Emirates in the Saturday 5:30pm kick-off, live on Sky Sports.**
As far as ideal fixtures go, this would be way down at the bottom of the list right now for Newcastle, but this is what we've got, so we'll have to do what we can.
After the horror show against Bournemouth last week, Eddie Howe had plenty of decisions to make, although some decisions were out of Howe's hands.
Tino Livramento picked up an injury against the Cherries last week and misses the trip to London, while Anthony Gordon hasn't recovered from his famous hip injury in time for this one. Joelinton misses out as he serves the second of his two-match ban for accumulation of yellow cards.
Confirmed lineups
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Aside from the players we already knew were missing, Eddie Howe has made sweeping changes to his lineup today.
**Newcastle XI:** Pope - Burn, Botman, Thiaw, Miley - Ramsey, Bruno, Tonali - Willock, Osula, J. Murphy
**Substitutes:** Ramsdale, Trippier, Hall, Wissa, Barnes, Elanga, Woltemade, A. Murphy, Neave
**Arsenal XI:** Raya, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Hincapie, Rice, Zubamendi, Odegaard, Madeueke, Eze, Havertz
**Howe's selection explained**
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It seems Eddie Howe has gone for sweeping changes over small adjustments, and we're not 100% sure how we feel about it, to be honest.
If he's sticking with his usual 4-3-3, then this lineup brings up a ton of questions. The first of which is "Has he absolutely lost his tiny mind?"
Dan Burn at left back has proven to be a bad idea on so many occasions that it makes zero sense at the best of times, but when you have Noni Madueke running down the wing, you want someone with at least a bit of pace about them.
Joe Willock shouldn't be anywhere near a starting XI either.
We get what Howe is doing here. When your regular starters are so poor, why not change everything? But honestly, it's not so much the players as it is the system at this point, and these players aren't going to execute that same old stale plan any better.
We wanted to be positive going into this one, but now we feel like we're in for a long, long evening.
Ash Harrison, hailing from the picturesque city of Durham, proudly serves as a Football Writer at NUFC Blog, a role he has embraced since October 2023. His dedication to Newcastle United is not just professional; it's a lifelong passion. Before joining NUFC Blog, Ash honed his craft as a writer at NUFCFEED, Geordie Boot Boys and Vital Football.
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