Arsenal v Newcastle United: Young guns to step up again

• Saka and Odegaard in terrific form

• Gunners have won all of their PL home games

• Magpies third in corners won

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Relentless Gunners winning over their doubters

Given their late-season collapse last term, it's understandable that many experienced observers viewed Arsenal's chances this season with scepticism. Could they maintain their consistency when it mattered?

Could their young players handle the pressure in a way they simply didn't last season, as Tottenham pipped them to a Champions League spot? Was Mikel Arteta really the man to take the club to the next level?

Arsenal have emphatically addressed all of those concerns, dropping just five points in their first 16 matches of the league season.

Since the World Cup break, Arteta's side has swept aside West Ham 3-1 in a fine comeback win, and they matched those performance levels at Brighton, winning 4-2 with some outstanding attacking play.

Martin Ødegaard was in thrilling form at the Amex, steering in Arsenal's second goal from range, and coming up with one of the passes of the season to set up the Gunners' fourth.

No-one who watched Norway's captain during his time at Real Sociedad will have been surprised by this season's displays (some were moved to tears when he left), and quite a few Real Madrid supporters are wondering how Zinedine Zidane never found a consistent spot for him at the Bernabeu.

Having sparkled for England at the World Cup, 21-year-old Bukayo Saka continues to help spearhead the Arsenal charge.

He has delivered six goals and six assists in the league this term, and overall he has bagged ten goals for club and country this term. Eddie Nketiah is doing a fine job of deputising for the injured Gabriel Jesus, and he has scored in each of Arsenal's two games since the World Cup break.

Like Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli suffered disappointment with Brazil in Qatar, but with Arsenal this term he has had more joy, and he too has scored in each of his last two games.

Emile Smith Rowe is being eased back into action after surgery, while Reiss Nelson is still out, but there were no fresh injury concerns after the trip to the Amex.

Magpies to get a test of progress

It was Newcastle who ultimately holed Arsenal's top-four chances below the waterline last season, beating them at St. James' Park. Since then, both sides have made remarkable progress.

While Arsenal are making a shock push for the title, Newcastle are ahead of schedule in their efforts to challenge for a top-four spot. Like the Gunners, Eddie Howe's side have only lost once in the league this season, and they have the best defensive record in the division.

They have leaked just 11 goals in 17 league matches, and have racked up nine clean sheets.

The underlying numbers show that Howe's men are third in the table on merit.

Infogol's data has the Magpies third in the standings, although their xGA figure of 18.5 shows the value of goalkeeper Nick Pope's fine form. Understat.com have the Magpies third on Expected Points, four ahead of both Manchester United and Liverpool.

Newcastle's away form has been excellent, with 13 points collected from the last five road matches. In that spell they held Manchester United to a goalless draw at Old Trafford, thrashed a very good Fulham side 4-1 at Craven Cottage and won 2-1 at Tottenham.

The Magpies were held to a goalless draw last time out by Leeds United, and it was their finishing that let them down. Callum Wilson could return to the starting line-up in place of Chris Wood, but star signing Alexander Isak in still on the sidelines.

Gunners are fair favourites

Arsenal are trading at 1.875/6 in the Match Odds market, and that's fair enough when you consider they have won their last ten Premier League home games. If you go back further, Arteta's team has won 22 out of 28 at the Emirates in the top flight.

However, given Newcastle's form, it's hard to be that enthusiastic about backing Arsenal at odds-on, so I'll look at other markets. If you're determined to back Arsenal, Newcastle's solid defensive record suggest that maybe you should back Arsenal to win and Under 3.5 Goals at 6/4 on the Sportsbook.

Magic Martin worth considering

Martin Ødegaard has produced seven league goals and five assists this term, and he is 7/5 to Score or Assist on the Sportsbook. Saka is a bit shorter at 10/11.

We can use the Sportsbook's Bet Builder to back Newcastle to have Over 3.5 Corners and Saka to have a shot on target at 2.1211/10. Arsenal concede an average of four corners per game, while Newcastle have had the third-most corners in the league this term (113 from 17 games).

Saka has had at least one shot on target in five of his last six games for club and country. Overall in the PL this term, he's hit the target in nine of his 16 appearances.

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