Martin Odegaard says last season’s defeat to Newcastle United at St James’ Park is all the motivation Arsenal need heading into tonight’s clash with Eddie Howe’s side at the Emirates.
The Gunners travelled to the North East in May needing a win to put them in the driving seat to secure a Champions League spot heading into the final weekend of the 21/22 season but were dealt a crushing blow by the Magpies who ran out deserved 2-0 winners.
Castigated afterwards in the dressing room by manager Mikel Arteta and criticised in a post-game interview by Granit Xhaka, the squad have since channelled the disappointment of that night, and subsequently being pipped by Sp*rs to fourth place in the table, to mount an extraordinary title challenge this time around.
Should Arsenal win this evening, they would temporarily stretch their lead at the top of the table to 10 points. It certainly won’t be easy. Newcastle currently sit third in the table and are unbeaten in their last 12 matches.
Reflecting on the challenge ahead, Odegaard told the official matchday programme:
“They have obviously been in great form this season, but even last season they showed a lot of quality. We had a really tough game against them at St James’ Park last season and I think Eddie Howe is a really good manager.
“They have quality throughout the team, a good mix of physical and technical players, and that explains why they are so high in the league. That gives them confidence too, and it will be interesting to see how they get on during the rest of the season.
He added: “Our defeat against them late last season was definitely one of the worst days we’ve had in recent seasons.
“It was the day we missed out on the Champions League, it hurt and I’m sure we won’t need any more motivation going into this game.
“Everyone will be aware of that and really looking forward to this one. We’re fully determined to show a different side compared to that last game.”
Arsenal are on a run of 10 straight league victories at Emirate Stadium and have won 11 successive home games against tonight’s visitors. (Stats via BBC / Opta)
Here’s hoping we can extend both those records.
CØYG
I’ll be watching in a Montreal pub where it’s a balmy 1 degree outside and no magpies around.
That’s the spirit! 💪🏻
We owe those Geordies tonight, big time. The same goes for the Mancs when they visit the Emirates in a few weeks.
And as for our trip to the Toilet Bowl. Don’t even get me started……👊🏻
‘Should Arsenal win this evening, they would stretch their lead at the top of the table to 10 points with a win over the Magpies.’
There, fixed that for you. You’re welcome.
I think you’re modifying the same clause twice there. Try putting them both at the start of the sentence.
‘With a win over the magpies, should Arsenal win this evening…’
We can see that this creates redundancy. So I don’t think the good people who write Arseblog News should implement this suggestion.
place a shiny object in the center circle the magpies will be easily distracted and peck at it for hours. tactics sorted.
I was just reading the other day that this is a complete myth.
Works on magpies here, and crows
What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger
This is the game I’ve been dreading all season. So much riding on this psychologically for the players and fans.
Feel like we’ve all said this about many games this season & same for the pundits. “This is the first big test for arsenal” & so on. We’re at home, this is a game we should be wining.
Let’s hope Almiron doesn’t poke his head out of his shell
Indeed
I would say its an important one only in the context of who they are facing next. Their next 4 games are against opposition they are expected to win on current form. We have a difficult set to face.
I don’t think so. Regardless of the result, we stay top of the league, and this team has the mentality to respond to the odd bad result.
If we continue the pattern of win 5 games then drop points in 1 game I’ll be happy!
When Howe managed Bournmouth and kept them up for years with attractive football, I wondered (and I wasn’t alone) what he could do if he had higher quality players. Tactics and motivation matter, but quality is still the most important thing. He’s done a fine job with Joelinton and Willock in midfield–but we have Odegaard and Partey. The improvement in Almiron is remarkable–but we have Saka. We are at home, we are top of the league. COYG!
I think we lost the 4th spot at Spurs. We went toe to toe instead of to hit them on a counter. Although the penalty was a disappointing from the ref, the red card was soft and its obvious the officials and pundits were against us. They wanted us to fail after attacking the lad’s celebration after each win. I hope we win the title and made them see that their criticisms made us better.
You’re on the money there. I never understood why Arteta didn’t play with a back 3 at that game considering the injuries we had. All we really needed was a draw at the toilet bowl and we would have made top 4.
If Newcastle thinks are playing the same team that they denied the champions league, they are in for a hard run.
Osegaard wanted revenge eh? Shame he didn’t play tonight although swear I saw his name on the team sheet.