Arsenal prepared for Newcastle's record transfer demand as St James' Park offers daunting challenge

Newcastle United welcome Arsenal to St James' Park this weekend hoping to get back to winning ways in the Premier League - having gone five games without a win.

On the latest episode of The Everything is Black and White Podcast, Arsenal writer Tom Canton of Football London joins Andrew Musgrove for The View from the Opposition.

In the episode, the pair talk about the financial restrictions impacting Newcastle, the Gunners interest in Alexander Isak, and whether United's high press could be key to victory.

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You can watch the full episode on YouTube by clicking here or listen to it by clicking here.

St James' Park is a fortress - do Arsenal fear visiting?

Newcastle United have only lost twice at St James' Park in 2024 - once against Man City, and then last time out against Brighton in a game they should have won.

Aside from that, team haves struggled to get the best of United on Tyneside, and there is a hope that Arsenal - like last season - will fall again at NE1.

Last time out, United beat Arsenal 1-0 thanks to a controversial goal from Anthony Gordon, one the Gunners felt should not have counted due to the ball going out as well as a foul from Joelinton. However, VAR ruled the goal should have stood and Newcastle ran out with the victory.

It's still a decision that irks Arsenal fans - and one that Mikel Arteta admits he can't watch again. In recent years, the clashes between Newcastle and Arsenal have been a feisty, especially at St James' Park and more of the same is expected on Saturday.

"You can never ever take for granted the opposition of Newcastle at St James' Park," Tom said, "it's an incredibly tough place to go. It's always marked on the calendar as one of the tougher games.”

Arsenal miss a no.9 - is their interest in Alexander Isak real?

The reports of Arsenal's interest in Alexander Isak have been rife since the end of last season - a campaign in which Isak scored 25 goals.

The Gunners' striking options are arguably the missing part of the jigsaw when it comes to winning the Premier League title, and as much as it hurts to say - Isak would be perfect for them.

However the good news for the Magpies is that Isak is contracted to the club until the summer of 2028 - and even if the Swedish international asked to leave, United would remain in a strong position to demand a Premier League record fee for their number 14.

According to Tom, such demands for Isak are not lost on Arsenal.

"Arsenal will be under no illusions that that's what it would probably cost," he said: "It would cost them a club record fee to get that deal done. But I think Arsenal have set themselves up for 2025 incredibly well.

"They had effectively a net zero summer. They brought in three players but they sold a lot of players.

"Moving on Emile Smith-Rowe, Eddie Nketiah and Aaron Ramsdale. They brought in a lot of money through sell on clauses and add on some previous deals as well and have set themselves up so that they are very PSR compliant and could go big next summer and also could still yet sell more players next summer.

"They're going to be very financially free, I think in 2025 to go big on particularly a striker, either Isak, perhaps Victor Gyökeres or Benjamin Šeško - it's not destined that it's just Isak."

Newcastle rediscovered the high press against Chelsea - how will Arsenal deal with it?

Finally, it returned! The high press! Chelsea could not deal with the high press and intensity of Newcastle in the first half of their League Cup clash earlier in the week.

This approach was the foundation of United's season that saw them qualify for The Champions League but has been missing from the current campaign - until Wednesday night.

So if United can bring the same approach to the game with Arsenal, how will the visitors get on?

“It's always something that depends on how Arsenal deal with it because high presses, of course, can force mistakes. But at the same time, if a team plays through a high press effectively, it can open up some really big opportunities for yourself as well. And Arsenal are, you know, one of the best teams in the league at playing through high presses.

"With the quick, slick passing and movement of the team, and Saka and Martinelli getting in behind, and Havertz dropping into the midfield and linking up players well - if they do it effectively, they can really hurt you.

"At the same time Newcastle will need to keep the high energy but I think it's actually been teams that have to a degree, stood off Arsenal a little bit, maybe asked them to try and break them down that have necessarily more offered Arsenal something of a challenge.”

Newcastle United can't spend their wealth - and there's empathy about it

The frustrations on Tyneside over spending rules that restrict Newcastle United from truly flexing their financial muscle are well known - but there is also some sympathy from Arsenal quarters.

Even though a free to spend Newcastle were blow Arsenal out of the water, there is some sympathy for the fact that United have found themselves with such wealth and yet are unable to spend it.

"There's a lot of stuff in the media at the moment," said Tom, "as I'm sure you're well aware, about whether or not the investment from the ownership at Newcastle is going to continue to such a level and whether or not, of course, with PSR, we saw that there was a need, of course, last summer with PSR for Newcastle to sell, whether that would affect them going forward, to whether Arsenal will try and take advantage of that.

"So there's little kind of undertone narratives. And I know Newcastle fans don't like hearing those sorts of things about, you know, the squads and the finance side of things, because it's incredibly frustrating.

"I empathise with them for that frustration. You know, you've got an ownership that's got billions of pounds, and you've watched City and Chelsea spend it all and get to where they are and now it's Newcastle's turn, and there's regulations in place stopping them from doing so.

"So I empathise with that completely. But that is the reality right now. "