Newcastle United welcome Arsenal to St. James’ Park on Sunday for their 2019/20 season opener.
It’s been an eventful off-season for both clubs and the teams will be hoping to settle immediately in the new campaign.
Steve Bruce takes charge of Newcastle for the first time following his appointment as manager.
The 58-year-old succeeded Rafael Benitez following the Spaniard’s departure and has overseen a number of high-profile signings on Tyneside.
Brazilian forward Joelinton has joined for a club-record fee of £40 million and Bruce will be hoping that he can swiftly adjust to life in the Premier League.
Exciting winger Allan Saint-Maximan has also joined from Nice and both players are in contention for a place in the starting eleven on Sunday.
Arsenal have also been busy in the summer transfer window, most notably acquiring the services of Ivory Coast forward Nicolas Pepe.
The 24-year-old enjoyed a remarkable season in Ligue 1 with Lille last term and will be looking to hit the ground running against Newcastle.
The loan singing of Dani Ceballos from Real Madrid will inject some much-needed quality into Arsenal’s midfield.
Arsenal endured a poor end to last season and were defeated in three of their last five Premier League matches.
On the other hand, Newcastle won three of their last five will be looking to start this season as they finished the last.
The Magpies also opened the scoring (in the first half) in three of their last four league outings.
The recent head-to-head record between the two teams doesn’t look pretty for Newcastle.
In 20 Premier League games since 2007, Newcastle have registered just two wins against Arsenal.
There have been just three draws between the sides in that time as Arsenal have claimed 15 victories.
The Gunners have had a tough pre-season. They picked up notable wins against Bayern Munich and Fiorentina but lost to Real Madrid, Lyon and Barcelona.
⏪ The late Cheick Tioté scored THAT goal as Newcastle United pulled off one of the greatest @premierleague comebacks against @Arsenal at St. James' Park.Relive that, and some other memorable clashes against the Gunners, here: https://t.co/ODouS4b0Iu #NUFC pic.twitter.com/6W2dfQzuF4— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) August 7, 2019
⏪ The late Cheick Tioté scored THAT goal as Newcastle United pulled off one of the greatest @premierleague comebacks against @Arsenal at St. James' Park.Relive that, and some other memorable clashes against the Gunners, here: https://t.co/ODouS4b0Iu #NUFC pic.twitter.com/6W2dfQzuF4
Newcastle have certainly had a less high-profile pre-season fixture list.
They took part in the Premier League Asia Trophy which saw the club thrashed 4-0 by Wolves before beating West Ham 1-0.
Back-to-back wins against Hibernian and St. Etienne will give Steve Bruce some confidence heading into his first match as Newcastle boss.
Forebet predicts a tough opening match for both teams, with over 2.5 goals scored, and Arsenal to come away with the victory.