{"id":7827,"date":"2023-05-06T00:13:15","date_gmt":"2023-05-05T23:13:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=7827"},"modified":"2023-05-08T11:57:18","modified_gmt":"2023-05-08T10:57:18","slug":"now-to-decode-the-barcodes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=7827","title":{"rendered":"Now, to Decode the Barcodes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color:#fff;display:inline-block;font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;color:#a7a7a7;font-size:11px;width:100%;max-width:594px;\"><div style=\"padding:0;margin:0;text-align:left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1454051817\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;\" rel=\"noopener\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div><div style=\"overflow:hidden;position:relative;height:0;padding:66.66667% 0 0 0;width:100%;\"><iframe src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/1454051817?et=pv9YQBg0SpR8DsBzB28KmA&amp;tld=com&amp;sig=HGqCkVvCR_lE7Uzg-lyJJbFxsWH-7P1fg0HTJ4xoKDU=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"594\" height=\"396\" style=\"display:inline-block;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;margin:0;\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Two or three months ago when I was looking at the end-of-season fixture list, I noticed Liverpool, Manchester City and Newcastle (all away) within a few weeks of each other and wished we could have replaced those three with a string of easier fixtures.&nbsp;&nbsp;The first two of those&nbsp;didn\u2019t go exactly to plan, and the third one, this Sunday afternoon at St. James\u2019 Park, will be a stern test indeed.&nbsp;&nbsp;The giant computer in the sky, or perhaps the Google employee who oils it, has decreed that the most likely outcome is a Newcastle win (a 38% probability), followed by an Arsenal win (36%) and a draw (26%).&nbsp;&nbsp;If the odds seem to be against us, let me assure you the most important number in that equation is 36, and it is on our side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this fixture last May the Geordies came away with a 2-0 win punctuated by a second half Ben White own goal and a late Bruno Guimaraes strike that put to rest the Gunners\u2019 Champions League aspirations.&nbsp;&nbsp;In the reverse fixture this January the sides stalemated in a nil-nil draw, the first match of the season that Arsenal failed to win at home.&nbsp;&nbsp;I don\u2019t know how we are going to overcome these markers of recent history but we must do so to keep our flickering title hopes alive, and something tells me that Arsenal might just manage to grab the points, especially if Gabriel is fit to start.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Opposition<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Just in case you haven\u2019t noticed, a trip to Newcastle is a lot tougher prospect these days than it was a few seasons ago, as they have found an effective mix featuring aggression, talent and tactics.&nbsp;&nbsp;The Barcodes sport the league\u2019s stingiest defence overall, and they have lost only once, to Liverpool, in their 16 home matches so far this season, having won ten and drawn five, including a 3-3 draw with Manchester City.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our opponents are currently on a four match home win streak with victories against Wolves, Manchester United, Tottenham (by 6-1), and Southampton; and as none other than Ian Wright was quoted this week, \u201cEddie Howe is doing unbelievable things\u2026 you saw what they did to Tottenham the other week. Teams are going to Newcastle now and they\u2019re afraid.\u201d&nbsp; Maybe so but that doesn\u2019t mean the lads should or will be scared once they start kicking the little round ball around the pitch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Arsenal XI<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Late in Tuesday\u2019s game Gabriel got what my TV screen suggested could be a knock to the ankle, but our eyewitness correspondent 21st Century Gooner thought it appeared to be a groin strain.&nbsp;&nbsp;In any case our stalwart Brazilian centre half was replaced by Rob Holding about ten minutes from the end.&nbsp;&nbsp;Mikel Arteta will be hoping he won\u2019t have to make do without both halves of his first choice defensive pairing, and on Friday he offered this update: \u201cWe will have to see tomorrow how Gabriel is, but yeah he could not finish the game so that was a big sign for us.\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The good news defensively is that Jakub Kiwior put in a very creditable performance in his first league start against the Chavs, looking solid on the ground and in the air.&nbsp;&nbsp;If Gabriel can\u2019t make the starting eleven then Holding should come in on the right, and be paired with Kiwior who would shift back to his more natural left side.&nbsp;&nbsp;Otherwise, Partey should come back in for Jorginho, and Martinelli for Trossard in this familiar-looking side:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Ramsdale&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">White &#8212; Kiwior &#8212; Gabriel &#8212; Zinchenko<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">\u00d8degaard &#8212; Partey &#8212; Xhaka<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Saka &#8212; Jesus &#8212; Martinelli<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>\u2018Holics\u2019 Pound<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dave Faber, the Goonerholic himself, was never one to prognosticate an Arsenal loss, even in the most difficult of circumstances.&nbsp;&nbsp;As Dave sometimes did, I am going with my heart even though we are in difficult fixture territory, and predicting a 2-1 Arsenal win on goals by Jesus and Martinelli.&nbsp;&nbsp;If you fancy an even more delightful scenario make that 3-1 with Kiwior adding his first goal in an Arsenal shirt late in injury time.&nbsp;&nbsp;My head tells me I could be getting a bit hopeful with both predictions but let\u2019s keep our noses to the grindstone and see how much better we can do than last year at this time and place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s yer lot, \u2018holics, now go out and enjoy it.&nbsp;&nbsp;When, and if, the Gunners are carting away the three points with their heads held high, remember that you heard it here first.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Embed from Getty Images Two or three months ago when I was looking at the end-of-season fixture list, I noticed Liverpool, Manchester City and Newcastle (all away) within a few weeks of each other and wished we could have replaced those three with a string of easier fixtures.&nbsp;&nbsp;The first two of those&nbsp;didn\u2019t go exactly to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7827"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7827"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7827\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7840,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7827\/revisions\/7840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}