Newcastle United are looking to get back to winning ways in the Premier League when they travel to Manchester City this weekend having suffered a defeat to Fulham in their last top-flight fixture.
That result saw Eddie Howe‘s side drop down to sixth in the table with Chelsea and City ahead of them in the race for the top-four.
The Toon are currently just two points off Enzo Maresca’s side in fourth spot, and six behind Nottingham Forest in third, while Arsenal are nine points clear of the Magpies. However, the race for Champions League football might well have been blown wide open after the Gunners were dealt a major injury blow.
Mikel Arteta’s side are already without England’s Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus, who are out with injuries – but now make-shift striker Kai Havertz has reportedly been ruled out for the rest of the campaign.
The Germany international has torn his hamstring according to David Ornstein at The Athletic. It’s unclear at this stage whether the 25-year-old will require surgery, but it leaves the Gunners without a recognised striker for the rest of the season after picking up the injury on their warm weather training camp in Dubai.
(Image: Getty Images)
That’s a major boost for Newcastle, who will be hoping Arsenal’s lack of firepower will help the Magpies to catch them up in the race for the top-four. There are suggestions that Arsenal may have to look at signing a free agent.
Arteta was desperate to add a frontman to his squad in the winter transfer window. The Gunners made a late approach for Ollie Watkins, but saw a £60million bid rejected by Aston Villa. They were also linked with Benjamin Sesko at RB Leipzig, and of course have been long-time admirers of Newcastle’s Alexander Isak, who terrorised them in the Carabao Cup.
Howe’s side still have to play the Gunners in their second Premier League meeting of the campaign, but will take confidence having beaten Arteta’s men three times already this season – including an impressive two-legged win over the north London club in their Carabao Cup semi-final showdown.
Though there’s a decent points cushion between the two sides at the time of writing, Arsenal still have a number of sides to play in and around the top-four between now and the end of the season.
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View news Source: https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/newcastle-united-handed-major-boost-30990064
