Arsenal will seek vengeance after Newcastle United’s dubious goal gave the Magpies the victory the previous time these two teams faced.
Mikel Arteta and pretty much every Arsenal fan and pundit went into a deep meltdown after Anthony Gordon’s goal was allowed to stand in the game at St James’ Park in November, despite extensive VAR reviews, the release of referee and VAR audio, and pretty much every former official confirming it was the correct decision.
It will undoubtedly be discussed during Arteta’s weird team speeches on the day (if you have seen the Arsenal All Or Nothing documentary on Amazon Prime, you will understand).
Newcastle have been living rent-free in Arteta’s head since November.
From a Newcastle perspective, the plus side of this is that we’re already living rent-free in their thoughts before the game even begins.
Chris Sutton believes the controversy will influence Arsenal’s thinking heading into the game, but it will not be too difficult for them to overcome, with the former Aston Villa striker tipping the Gunners to win in his BBC score prediction.
“There was plenty of controversy when these two sides met at St James’ Park in November, including fury towards the VAR from Arsenal over Newcastle’s winner. That might mean there is an edge to this game, from the start.
“Arsenal were disappointing in their defeat by Porto on Wednesday, which surprised me a little, but Porto really disrupted them.
“Newcastle may well try to do the same thing but I am expecting the Gunners to bounce back. They were excellent when I watched them beat Burnley last week and the Magpies concede too many goals. including eight in their past three games, so I think Arsenal will find a way through.
“Sutton’s prediction:Â 2-1″
Can we have another VAR controversy in our favour please?
It’s not as catastrophic a score forecast as Paul Merson’s, but it still doesn’t look good for the Magpies, does it?
As we stated in the Merson article, we had the same amount of confidence heading into the Aston Villa game, and look how it panned out.
Wouldn’t it be good if we could achieve another goal that had to be thoroughly reviewed by VAR before being awarded? Imagine the fumes!
