TEAM NEWS
Arsenal midfielder Mathieu Flamini could play after a minor ankle injury.
Alexis Sanchez remains out but is nearing a first-team return, while Jack Wilshire and Santi Cazorla are amongst a host of other absentees.
Newcastle will be without midfielder Vernon Anita due to a hamstring injury.
Goalkeeper Rob Elliot is battling to be fit after a stomach bug and Rolando Aarons and Emmanuel Riviere are both back in training but, like Arsenal, the Magpies' injury list remains lengthy.
MOTD COMMENTATOR'S NOTES
Simon Brotherton: "Arsenal have their noses in front going into the new year in this most unpredictable of seasons and have their best chance of winning the title in years.
"However, they'll need to avoid too many more slip-ups like the one at Southampton on Boxing Day, and won't necessarily find this a straightforward encounter.
"Newcastle have shown they are capable of raising their game against some of the better sides despite their own lowly league position.
"I was at White Hart Lane shortly before Christmas to see them take all three points off Tottenham and they've also beaten Liverpool inside the last month."
WHAT THE MANAGERS SAY
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger on Mesut Ozil: "He is a complete athlete. He has grown in stature and takes responsibilities, leadership in the team and on that front he has improved tremendously.
"This season he was not stopped by injuries and I believe that he arrives at an age - 27 - that you think 'it's time for me to really be efficient in every single game, and I want to enjoy every single game'."
Newcastle head coach Steve McClaren: "There has not been much reward over the last three games.
"We have got to stick together and be strong. It's a long season. That is the first half over, we have a little break, review it, and get ready for the second half in the new year."
LAWRO'S PREDICTION
"At home - where they have not lost in the league since the opening day of the season - the Gunners are formidable.
"Newcastle circle the wagons but the opposition always find a way through."
- Think you can do better than Lawro? Predict the score for this match and the rest of this round's Premier League fixtures in ourPredictor game.
MATCH FACTS
Head-to-head
- Arsenal have won the last eight meetings between the sides.
- Newcastle have tasted victory in just three of their last 29 Premier League meetings with Arsenal (D8, L18).
- The sides' only previous meeting on 2 January came in 1996 when Kevin Keegan's Newcastle went seven points clear at the top of the table after beating Arsenal 2-0 at St James' Park, with the late Pavel Srnicek in goal. Arsene Wenger took over at Arsenal six months later.
- Newcastle didn't manage a single shot on target when they were beaten 1-0 by Arsenal at St James' Park earlier this season.
- Eighteen goals have been scored in the last three Premier League meetings between the sides at the Emirates.
Arsenal
- Arsenal have won four of their last five Premier League games.
- The Gunners have been victorious in six of their last seven home league matches.
- Their only home league defeat came on the opening day, when they lost 2-0 to West Ham.
- Mesut Ozil has contributed 16 assists this season, and is only four short of Thierry Henry's Premier League record of 20 (set in 2002-03).
- Olivier Giroud has scored eight goals in seven Premier League games against the Magpies.
Newcastle
- Newcastle have scored just five away goals this season, the lowest total in the Premier League.
- In total the Magpies have failed to score in 10 of their last 15 away league games.
- Newcastle have had the fewest shots in the Premier League this season (171).
- They picked up seven red cards in 2015, more than any other Premier League team.
- Newcastle also conceded a joint-high 69 Premier League goals last year - equal with Aston Villa.
- Steve McClaren has lost 10 of his 11 Premier League meetings against Arsene Wenger. His sole victory came in September 2005 as his then-Middlesbrough side won 2-1 at home.
Déjà vu: Wenger doesn’t want to rest Ozil
Arsene Wenger admits he cannot afford to rest
Alexis Sanchez Mesut Ozil for any games, despite the German rarely training due to his need for a break.
Ozil has been Arsenal’s standout player this season, as they head into 2016 top of the Premier League, and in the knockout stages of the Champions League.
The German has already assisted 16 goals in 18 games so far this season, with no player playing more minutes over the Premier and Champions League.
And Wenger admits that while Ozil may need a rest – the 27-year-old now rarely trains – the Frenchman wishes to continue using him in each game.
“At the moment, he doesn’t train a lot. We rest him a lot between the games. I gave him one-week holiday during the international break.
“He is a guy who, once the basic fitness is there between the games, he wants to play.
“There are types of players, sometimes the most technical players, it looks like it demands less energy for them to play – it is just natural for them.
“You look as well at the impact he can have on other players.
“The Premier League is very tight and if you go into the decisive game and if you rest players, the other players think subconsciously, they don’t tell you, but they think: ‘Why?’ Even the player himself.”
Alexis Sanchez, anyone?
Wenger: ‘McClaren needs more than six months’
Arsene Wenger believes Newcastle should keep faith in manager Steve McClaren.
The former England boss has struggled to achieve consistency since being appointed at St James’ Park in the summer and takes his side to the Emirates Stadium still stuck in the Barclays Premier League relegation zone.
The 54-year-old McClaren has already come under pressure from some quarters despite recent wins over Liverpool and Tottenham.
But Wenger, whose side will be looking to maintain top spot with a win over the Magpies, feels his counterpart deserves more time.
“He has only just joined the club,” Wenger replied when asked about speculation over McClaren’s future.
“Newcastle is a very exciting project because it’s a very big club and it’s a fantastic and exciting job for a manager like Steve McClaren, but it is a long-term job.
“(Newcastle) has a huge potential and in six months it’s impossible to transform a club of that stature into a club competing for the Premier League. Give him time.
“I know that patience is not the first quality in our society but, unfortunately to be successful, you need it.”
A Fabricio Coloccini own goal was all that separated the sides when they met in the north-east back in August.
Newcastle had to wait until October for their first league win but Wenger reckons McClaren’s squad possesses the quality to cause problems to his side.
“They had a difficult start and they lacked a little bit of confidence,” he said.
“That always shows at home more than away from home. Away from home they have had quite good results and performances.
“If you look at their squad, they have good players in all areas. Up front they have Papiss Cisse, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Ayoze Perez.
“In the middle of the park they have players like Moussa Sissoko and Georginio Wijnaldum who can make a difference as well, so they are a dangerous team to play.”
For the Gunners, Mathieu Flamini is likely to return in midfield after an ankle issue kept him out of Monday’s win over Bournemouth.
Alexis Sanchez is still missing and Wenger has said he will rotate his side due to the fixture congestion over the festive period.
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