Newcastle boss claims Arsenal have advantage ahead of friendly
Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images
After kicking off pre-season with a behind-closed-doors win over Watford last weekend and a public friendly victory over AC Milan on Wednesday, Arsenal are set to face their first Premier League opponent in Newcastle United on Sunday.
Speaking ahead of that game, Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe has suggested the Gunners have the upper hand.
'There is a bit of fatigue in the training today,' Howe told his press conference. 'I think the players are still adjusting. A definite advantage to Arsenal because they have been here longer. It is a pre-season game and we will be looking to get bits from it.'
Photo byLike Arsenal, Newcastle have already played a couple of pre-season fixtures. Howe's side thrashed Carlisle United 4-0 on July 12th, a week before Arsenal even played their first match, and they subsequently lost 4-0 to a Celtic side containing Auston Trusty and Kieran Tierney last weekend.
There's really no reason why Newcastle would be less prepared for a match, it's just perhaps a question of whether Arsenal will have adapted better to the Singapore heat.
The Carlisle match was at the Newcastle's training ground, and the Celtic game was at Celtic Park. Unlike Arsenal, Howe's side are yet to play a match in Asia this summer.
Photo byNewcastle will also be without star striker Alexander Isak for the game, with the centre-forward officially unavailable due to a thigh injury. It's an open secret that the player has also asked to leave the club this summer.
Sunday's game is only a friendly, with the two teams playing for pride but primarily to build fitness. If Howe is right to be so pessimistic about his team, it's a shame there won't be three points at stake.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
8 minutes ago
- Yahoo
It's mind boggling: Ian Thorpe blown away by upset win
Australian swimming legend Ian Thorpe has praised the country's rebuilding 4x100m women's freestyle relay team after they pulled off a shock victory over the US at the world championships in Singapore. Mollie O'Callaghan, Meg Harris, Milla Jansen and Olivia Wunsch entered Sunday night's final in Singapore with a nothing-to-lose approach against hot favourites the US. The tactic worked a treat, with Wunsch reeling in star American Torri Huske in the final 50m to produce a huge upset victory and a first gold medal for Australia at the 2025 world championships. What a finish by 🇦🇺 Olivia Wunsch to close the Women's 4x100m Relay 🤯🤯 #Swimming #AQUASingapore25 — World Aquatics (@WorldAquatics) July 27, 2025 Thorpe praised Australia's efforts, especially considering they did it without retired star Emma McKeon. Wunsch (19 years old) and Jansen (18) are still teenagers, leaving Harris (23) and O'Callaghan is (21) as the relay team's leaders in Singapore. "It is really difficult to be able to find someone to match our most successful Olympian we've ever seen - Emma McKeon. She's not there," Thorpe said. "Cate Campbell's not there. Bronte Campbell's not there. "But what we do have in Australia is the consistency in this race, that it's tough to make this team. "And what I'm most impressed with is ... how they could lift for the entire team in this race. Amazing stuff." Thorpe heaped special praise on Olympic gold medallist Harris, who produced 50m splits of 24.34s and 27.53s across her 100m leg to be the fastest Australian. "Her split was mind boggling," Thorpe told Channel 9. O'Callaghan said the win came as a shock given how young the team is. "I knew it was going be a very tough year, like we've had so many rookies come through, and it's great to see them," she said. "They're trying to gain experience, and it's amazing to see them step up and perform. "We didn't really have expectations on this meet, especially for this 4x100m. "It was just about gaining experience, setting up for the next four years. But I'm incredibly proud of these three amazing women, and the two others who swam in the heats." The Australian men were just as impressive, with the quartet of Kyle Chalmers, Flynn Southam, Kai Taylor and Maximillian Giuliani posting a world championship-record time of 3:08.97 to defeat Italy (3:09.58) and the fading US (3:09.64). CHAMPIONS! 💥The Aussie power squad smashes the Championships Record in the Men's 4x100m Freestyle Relay with a blazing 3:08.97! 🔥 #Swimming #AQUASingapore25 — World Aquatics (@WorldAquatics) July 27, 2025 Chalmers started from behind in the final leg before producing a powerful swim to lift Australia to victory. "We've all been able to swim really well individually or split great times at different points, but it's been a matter of doing it all together at the same time, which I think we were able to do tonight," Chalmers said. "And like I said to the boys, it's all about now just getting it right in LA in three years time, and standing on the top of the podium there. "It'd be really nice to be able to do that." Monday's early action will feature 16-year-old Sienna Toohey and Ella Ramsay in the women's 100m breaststroke heats, Kaylee McKeown in the 100m backstroke heats, Josh Edwards-Smith in the men's 100m backstroke, and Lani Pallister in the women's 1500m freestyle.
Forbes
10 minutes ago
- Forbes
Premier League Summer Series Reinforces League's Growth In The U.S.
Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes (8) scored twice in a 2-1 win against West Ham at MetLife ... More Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. Wes Brown admits he was shocked one of the first times he came to the United States on a preseason tour with Manchester United in the early 2000s. 'What I remember is that there was a massive football fanbase,' said Brown, a five-time Premier League winner during his United career from 1996-2011. 'Coming from England and Manchester, you don't think that and think there might be a few fans, but every time we played here or I've been back here watching the club, it's been absolutely fantastic. 'We didn't realize how big (football) was here, and it's gotten bigger and bigger each year. … We were walking around (NYC) today and even people were recognizing me.' Not only has the investment and expansion of domestic leagues like MLS, USL and NWSL helped drive soccer's growth in the U.S., European leagues and clubs like the Premier League and Manchester United making the highly coveted market a top priority as part of their respective internationalization strategies has added an endless supply of fuel to the now-raging football fire. The Premier League has been buoyed in the U.S. thanks to a long-term media rights deal with NBC, who first started broadcasting England's top domestic league with the 2013/14 campaign. As viewing habits have changed from solely linear TV to streaming and social media, NBC has doubled down on its coverage and accessibility of the league, whether through OTT platform Peacock or the continuation of its Premier League Mornings Live Fan Fest series. Across all NBCUniversal platforms in English and Spanish, fans consumed 17.14 billion minutes of Premier League coverage in 2024/25, the second-most ever for a Premier League season in the U.S. For the full season, NBC Sports averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 510,000 viewers per Premier League TV match window, marking a record fourth consecutive season with average English-language viewership topping 500,000. To cap off the 'Summer of Soccer' in the U.S., the Premier League is playing the second edition of its Summer Series across the country. Featuring AFC Bournemouth, Everton, Manchester United and West Ham, the four clubs will play a series of double headers in New York/New Jersey, Chicago and Atlanta from July 26 to August 3. The inaugural Premier League Summer Series in July 2023 welcomed more than 265,000 fans to venues. The attendance for Summer Series match between Manchester-United West Ham at MetLife Stadium was ... More more than the Club World Cup Final between Chelsea and PSG two weeks earlier. Despite this summer's participating clubs finishing no better than ninth (Bournemouth) in last year's Premier League standings, Manchester United-West Ham drew an attendance of 82,566 on July 26 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., eclipsing the 81,118 for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup Final between Chelsea and PSG at the same venue two weeks prior. While NBC executives 'continue to push for' a Premier League match on U.S. soil, the country has been the focal point for international football as hosts of the 2024 Copa América, 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup, 2026 FIFA World Cup (with Canada and Mexico), 2028 Olympics and 2031 FIFA Women's World Cup (with Mexico). As the most-watched soccer league in the country, the Premier League looks to reap the benefits of its U.S. investment. 'The buzz gets everyone looking and seeing what's happening here,' Brown said at a Premier League Summer Series kickoff event at Classic Football Shirts NYC. 'Loads of Americans play football but when it's in the States and people are going to the games, it's an enjoyable day first of all, then you start to take an interest in the game. 'With the World Cup coming, it makes it even better as well.'
Fox News
10 minutes ago
- Fox News
Chinese swimming prodigy makes debut on world stage at just 12 years old
Chinese swimmer Yu Zidi made her debut at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore on Sunday as she competed in the 200-meter individual medley. She's just 12 years old. Yu is slated to compete in the 400-meter individual medley and the 200-meter butterfly. She finished with a time of 2 minutes, 11.90 seconds in the 200 IM, advancing to the semifinals. Her time was the 15th fastest of the 16 qualifiers. Yu, who was born in October 2012, took up swimming at the age of six. "The summer was too hot, and my dad took me to the water park," she told China's Xinhua News Agency, via The Sydney Morning Herald. "I enjoyed the coolness of the water and spent a lot of time in different small pools for kids. One day, a coach approached me and asked if I wanted to swim faster. "My age is currently an advantage. I hope to grow and develop more strength in the future. I really want to experience the world-class competition." World Aquatics' cut off age is 14 years old, but younger swimmers are allowed to compete if their times surpass a qualifying standard. Yu nearly made the China Olympic Team for the 2024 Paris Games but was a few seconds short. Should Yu pick up a medal in any of the events, she would be the youngest swimmer since Denmark's Inge Sorensen won a medal a month after turning 12 at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
