Arsenal out to silence Mikel Arteta critics by ending St James' Park hoodoo

Gunners must stand up to Tyneside test as one of the Premier League’s most unlikely recent rivalries returns

Eddie Howe has been successful at thwarting Mikel Arteta over recent years

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If you were to guess the three managers that have beaten Mikel Arteta the most during his coaching career so far, you would probably correctly name the top two.

Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp claim those positions, but the man in third place is more surprising and harder to call.

Eddie Howe is the manager in question and, during his time at Newcastle, he has become a real thorn in Arteta’s side.

Newcastle have become the Gunners’ bogey team, especially when hosting them at St James’ Park. Arsenal have lost on each of their last three visits without scoring a single goal.

“I think it’s one of the best football atmospheres in this country,” said Arteta. “It is incredibly beautiful.

“I think when you as a player, as a fan, as a coach, you want to live in this atmosphere. They play every single ball with you. It’s electric.

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“There is so much support up there and it’s one team, one city. I think that makes it different as well.

“And to play as an opposition is such a challenge and an opportunity at the same time, so a great atmosphere to play in.”

The way Howe has built this Newcastle team makes them ideally set up to beat Arsenal. They are happy to sit deep and play on the counter-attack, with their physical approach able to knock Arteta’s side off their rhythm.

Howe referenced on Friday that there has been an “edge” to recent encounters between the two teams and that only plays into Newcastle’s hands.

“The more competitive we are, the better we play,” said Howe. “We need to bring that to the game on Sunday.”

The atmosphere at St James’ Park will feed into that and Arsenal vs Newcastle has become one of the Premier League’s most unlikely rivalries in recent seasons.

The way Howe has built this Newcastle team makes them ideally set up to beat Arsenal

It started three years ago, when Arsenal lost 2-0 in their penultimate game of the season. The defeat cost them Champions League qualification.

Arteta’s rant in the dressing room afterwards was captured by the Amazon Prime cameras, who were filming a documentary at the time.

“They were 10,000 times better than us today,” said Arteta. “We didn’t win a f*****g duel. We were horrible with the f*****g ball. So now, shut your mouth.”

Prior to that, the Gunners had won eight in a row against Newcastle, but the recent record is far more even.

Since that game in May 2022, Arsenal have won three, Newcastle four and there has been one draw.

“It’s a lot of games that you have to dominate when you play against them, now we have to be ready because they continue so rapidly, so quickly,” said Arteta. “It’s a really intense match. We will prepare for that.”

The most intriguing thing on Sunday will be how Arteta elects to approach the game.

The Spaniard has been accused of playing with “the handbrake on” in the early part of this season and Liverpool have already opened up a lead at the top of the Premier League.

A win would boost both Arsenal’s title hopes and morale in the squad, while it would also silence some of Arteta’s critics.

The return of Martin Odegaard, who has missed the last three games with a shoulder injury, would add some creativity to Arsenal’s midfield which looked blunt against Manchester City until Eberechi Eze came on at half-time.

There is an argument that physicality is needed against Newcastle, which is why Arteta may favour playing Declan Rice and Mikel Merino as two No8s if Odegaard is not fit.

But Barcelona showed earlier this month how, if you can weather the early St James’ Park storm, then a technical and possession-based approach can work.

Bogey ground: Arsenal beat Newcastle at home back in May, but their recent record at St James’ Park makes for grim reading

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“I think there are two ways to look at that game with a tactical view, it’s on mute or putting the volume up,” said Arteta.

“And I decided to put the volume up just to understand, because in every decision made there is an emotional contribution and certainly when you have to play your game, and the way you want to play there, you have to be able to do it in that atmosphere and I think that’s beautiful.

“I always praise the work that Eddie and the coaching staff have done there and the way they have managed to create such an atmosphere, especially at home and a very clear identity of playing football. They make it really difficult.

“We know the test, we know that we’re going to have to be much more efficient than we’ve been lately when we played up there to win the game. We’re going to work on that in the next two days.”

Sunday will reveal if Arsenal can finally break Newcastle’s hold over them – and prove this season’s title challenge has real steel.

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