Newcastle v Arsenal: Gunners can fire on Tyneside

STEVE BRUCE takes charge of his first Premier League fixture with Newcastle on Sunday afternoon as the Toon take on Arsenal at St James' Park. Daniel McCulloch (@DMcCulloch1984) delivers his best bet verdict.

Newcastle v Arsenal | Sunday 11th August 2019, 14:00 | Sky Sports

I may have backed Newcastle to get relegated but there are very few times that I would back Arsenal at odds-on quotes away from home and this isn't one of them.

It's fair to say that Steve Bruce wasn't the number one choice from the Toon Army but he has a decent managerial record overall and I think this would be a difficult season for Newcastle regardless who was boss.

Arsenal look rather top heavy at the minute. Full backs Kieran Tierney and Hector Bellerin are still injured and their centre back options certainly don't convince. The Gunners kept just one clean sheet on the road last season so I certainly wouldn't be backing them to win to nil here. I think they do win the game, however, but 19/20 in the outright market does not appear.

Instead, I will split my stakes on a couple of scorelines. Arsenal won 2-1 on the road on three occasions last season, including at Newcastle – 2-1 is 8/1 with Bet365 whilst 3-1 is 15/1 with BetVictor and that feels like a nice little saver to me.