U21s preview: Arsenal v Newcastle United

Ou r young Gunners continue their Premier League 2 campaign at home to Newcastle United on Friday, February 13.

The match will take place at Mangata Developments Stadium, with kick-off scheduled for 7pm (UK time), and the game will be available to stream on Arsenal.com and the official app.

Our under-21s are now unbeaten in three matches, taking seven points from clashes against Burnley, Leeds United and Everton. Max Porter's side also kept impressive clean sheets in each fixture, with defensive resilience proving key to our recent climb up the table. We currently occupy 12th place on 19 points, within the play-off positions.

Despite controlling large spells of last week's draw with the Toffees, we were unable to find a breakthrough in a contest that ultimately ended goalless.

THE OPPOSITION

The Magpies have struggled to build momentum in the PL2 this season and recently saw lead coach Adam Lawrence return to Manchester United's academy setup just four months after making the initial switch to the North East.

However, they claimed a thrilling 4-3 victory over Aston Villa last time out, their first win since early November and only their third domestic success all season. The Tyneside outfit currently sits in 24th position with 12 points from as many games.

Cup competitions have offered little respite, with group stage exits in the Premier League International Cup, Vertu Trophy and National League Cup.

We last faced Newcastle in the first round of the 2024/25 play-offs, when spot-kicks from Nathan Butler-Oyedeji and Khayon Edwards saw us progress with a 2-1 victory.

HOW TO FOLLOW

You can watch our game against Newcastle live for free on Arsenal.com and on the official app, with coverage starting at 6.55pm (UK time) for a 7pm kick-off.

Live updates will be available throughout the match on our academy's official X account. Post-match, don't miss interviews with under-21s head coach Max Porter and one of our young Gunners, as well as highlights of all the key action from the Mangata Developments Stadium.