{"id":9229,"date":"2024-02-24T00:22:44","date_gmt":"2024-02-24T00:22:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=9229"},"modified":"2024-02-25T11:28:15","modified_gmt":"2024-02-25T11:28:15","slug":"one-for-sorrow-two-for-joy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=9229","title":{"rendered":"One for sorrow, two for joy&#8230;"},"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\/1775253809\" 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:64.81481% 0 0 0;width:100%;\"><iframe src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/1775253809?et=b_SpjRnnQRx7Hliby3vmww&amp;tld=com&amp;sig=dKXWGu74Jvm6e0tmE9a9Gwr_ZJD00gYCOcbPink7_q4=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"594\" height=\"385\" style=\"display:inline-block;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;margin:0;\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>When we last had the dubious pleasure of playing against the striped Magpies from th&#8217;Norf, it was at theirs and they beat us 1-0.  Check the picture above for a reminder how and why&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Times for us both have changed as our seasons have progressed.  When we arrived in Geordieland in November Arsenal were 7 points and four places clear of Newcastle; our loss there brought them to within 4 and two, respectively, with Arsenal dropping to 4th as a result.  As they arrive to what should be an Electric Emirates they sit only 5 places lower, but Arsenal are 18 points clear of the Saudi-owned club.  Who&#8217;d want to worry about their hands or feet over that, let alone their heads?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So look for Newcastle to come and park the black and white bus in and around our penalty box, challenging us to try and break it down to get our needed win.  They&#8217;ve not lost in their last 5 games overall, having advanced to the 4th round of the FA Cup.  In those games they&#8217;ve scored 15 goals; that they have let in a further 9 goals against that tally shows Newcastle for what they really are:  possibly high scoring, probably a soft center (it also mimics their season, letting in 41 against 53).  Even if they park the bus they seem to, more than frequently, leave the keys in it&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Newcastle<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Al-Eddiehowe likes to arrange his team in a (hopefully) bog-standard 4-3-3, with the same four or so sheikhs trying to create drama up front:  Isak, Gordon, Murphy, and Wilson have about half their goals.  It&#8217;s fortunate for us that Wilson is out until, supposedly, May, and Isak has a late fitness test on his groin injury.  It should mean Almiron will start one side or the other of Gordon (or Isak, if fit), with Murphy on the other.  Willock (yay, Joe!) has a late test for his calf, and Sch\u00e4r has been passed fit after injuring his wrist.  Other principal players they&#8217;re missing likely include Joelinton and Pope.  Sadly, we can expect to see the odious but brutal Guimar\u00e3es on the pitch, trying to control the game in front of Burn, Trippier, and D\u00fabravka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Arsenal<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It looks like we&#8217;re considering Partey, Jesus, and Zinchenko to be returning, with Tomi still lost in space-time after leaving the Japan after the Asian Cup.  Just kidding.  We&#8217;ll be without those four, absent a miracle, except perhaps for some benchwarming.  It&#8217;s going to be a slog, so perhaps we need to bring in some blood that has rest in it, rather than keep expending the energy of the same old players&#8230;if possible:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Raya<br>White &#8212; Saliba &#8212; Gabriel &#8212; Kiwior<br>M\u00f8 &#8212; Rice &#8212; ESR<br>Saka &#8212; Havertz &#8212; Trossard<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most likely, though, Arteta will bring in the same team that lost to Porto, swapping Martinelli for Trossard, Trossard for Havertz, and Havertz for ESR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I am sure the dressing room is feeling the sting of that last-minute loss in Porto, and recognizing (unlike, apparently, some of Arsenal&#8217;s social media sphere, who have melted down into a quiver of jelly) that it was a mistake in an important game rather than an indictment of the team or its successes so far this season.  I am also sure the crowd will be loud and proud in support of our lads, and hopefully that will lift us to victory even if there are some tired legs on our side of the pitch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Holic Pound<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If we look for Arsenal to continue our recent run of Premier League form, we can expect them to score some large number of goals, having averaged more than 4 from our last 5 games (while giving up only two!).  If Newcastle rise a bit to their occasion we might see a 3-1 victory, which is going at a not-so-handsome 11\/1; one more goal for us and one less than them gets you 18s.  If you think Newcastle can avoid profligacy and actually score against our defense you might think they can score 2; Arsenal 3-2 Newcastle is to be had at a money-spinning 22-1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Regardless of how you might bet, or not, whether you&#8217;re there at the stadium or parked on your favorite or necessary seat with or without a beverage in hand, be loud, be proud, and send all your winning energy to the lads from kickoff time tomorrow.  Perhaps we&#8217;ll be singing &#8220;five for silver, six for gold&#8221; by the end of the game&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>COYG!!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Embed from Getty Images When we last had the dubious pleasure of playing against the striped Magpies from th&#8217;Norf, it was at theirs and they beat us 1-0. Check the picture above for a reminder how and why&#8230; Times for us both have changed as our seasons have progressed. When we arrived in Geordieland in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"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\/9229"}],"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\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9229"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9229\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9241,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9229\/revisions\/9241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}