Arsenal vs Newcastle Premier League preview: team news, injuries, suspensions and latest odds

• Follow Arsenal vs Newcastle live here with JJ Bull

What is it?

Your dose of Arsenal vs Newcastle United Premier League action in football match form.

When is it?

This Saturday, 16 December 2017.

What time is kick-off?

15.00 GMT. Textbook.

What TV channel is it on?

It's not, you'll be upset to learn. But never fear, you can follow the match on the Telegraph Sport website with JJ Bull.

What is the team news?

Arsenal will be without injured duo Theo Walcott and Aaron Ramsey for Saturday's Premier League visit of Newcastle.

Ramsey injured his hamstring in last weekend's 1-1 draw at Southampton while Walcott (groin) is also sidelined, although the Gunners could welcome back Shkodran Mustafi as the defender is back in training following a thigh complaint.

Arsene Wenger is likely to bring Sead Kolasinac and Alexandre Lacazette back into his starting line-up after they were rested at West Ham, but Santi Cazorla (ankle) remains absent.

Provisional Arsenal squad: Cech, Ospina, Mertesacker, Holding, Mustafi, Koscielny, Chambers, Monreal, Debuchy, Bellerin, Nelson, Kolasinac, Maitland-Niles, Wilshere, Xhaka, Elneny, Ozil, Iwobi, Sanchez, Welbeck, Lacazette, Giroud.

Arsenal team picker

For Newcastle, Jonjo Shelvey starts a two-match ban after being sent off for the second time this season during Wednesday night's 1-0 home defeat by Everton.

Striker Aleksandar Mitrovic will also sit out with a back problem, but full-back Paul Dummett is available for the first time since the opening day of the campaign following a hamstring injury.

Provisional Newcastle squad: Darlow, Elliot, Yedlin, Manquillo, Mbemba, Dummett, Haidara, Lascelles, Clark, Lejeune, Merino, Hayden, Saivet, Ritchie, Atsu, Murphy, Aarons, Diame, Perez, Joselu, Gayle.

Newcastle team

What are they saying?

Arsene Wenger believes Arsenal's defeat to Manchester United a fortnight ago is still having an adverse affect on his players.

Arsenal were beaten 3-1 by Jose Mourinho's side on December 2 and have gone on to draw their next two Premier League outings away at Southampton and West Ham.

Taking just two points out of a possible nine has left Arsenal down in seventh place heading into Saturday's visit of struggling Newcastle.

But Wenger feels there may still be a hangover from the way his side lost to United, who struck twice early on and had goalkeeper David De Gea to thank for making a number of quality saves.

"It still plays on their minds," he said when asked about the United defeat.

"You need to get that out of the system. When you have so many chances as we had and you come out with nothing, it's difficult to swallow and it takes a little while.

"I think the best way is to continue to put that behind us and focus on the quality of our game."

While De Gea's man of the match display helped keep Arsenal at bay for much of the contest, Wenger's forwards have been misfiring of late.

Arsenal have created more chances than any other team in the Premier League this season but have only managed to convert 13 per cent of them, while both United and leaders Manchester City boast a 23 per cent conversion rate.

Across the three games against United, Southampton and West Ham, Wenger saw his side have 66 shots on goal but only Alexandre Lacazette's consolation against the Red Devils and Olivier Giroud's late equaliser at Saints found the back of the net.

"At the moment there is a difference between points we get and the domination we have in the game," the Arsenal boss added.

"Of course it is down to the fact that we've played recently against two teams who defended extremely well at home. West Ham have shown that against City and against Chelsea.

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"Maybe we have to speed up our passing and have more penetrating runs in the final third to create more chances. Maybe we need support for our central strikers in the box as well."

Wenger broke Arsenal's transfer record to bring in Lacazette in the summer, with the Frenchman having secured the best conversion rate across Europe's top-five leagues last season.

But he was left on the bench at the London Stadium, coming on for the final eight minutes of the 0-0 stalemate with West Ham.

Wenger is now likely to recall the 26-year-old against Newcastle after insisting it was injury which prevented him starting against the Hammers.

Asked if Lacazette was dropped, he replied: "No, (it was) because of rotation and he recently had a groin problem and I didn't want to push him too much.

"I don't know how you call that, when you rotate you rotate. I don't feel that (he was dropped), I just think he was rested."

Newcastle United captain Jamaal Lascelles believes the side have not yet fallen into a relegation scrap despite a woeful run of recent form that has seen them plummet down the table after losing seven of their last eight league games.

Newcastle's poor run has left them in 16th position, one point ahead of the three teams directly below them - West Bromwich Albion, Crystal Palace and West Ham United - and just three above bottom side Swansea City.

"When you keep getting bad results it's going to knock you a little bit as a human being," Lascelles said.

"With the manager and players we have, we can definitely sort things out. I'm not going to say we're in a relegation battle. There's still loads of games to play."

Everton handed Newcastle their latest defeat with a 1-0 win at St James' Park on Wednesday and Lascelles said that his team mates shared their frustration after the match and hopes the exchange can fuel a positive reaction.

"There were a few home truths said but the reality is we're not in a great position and sometimes things need to be said that players don't want to hear," Lascelles added.

"Hopefully, it'll get a reaction. We don't want to leave it too late."

What are the odds?

Arsenal win: 1/4
Draw: 5/1
Newcastle win: 12/1

What's our prediction?

Over to Nick Callow: