Mikel Arteta has admitted Arsenal must significantly improve upon their last trip to St. James' Park when they face off with Newcastle on Sunday afternoon.
The Gunners boss prepares to lead his side out on Tyneside for the first time in just under a year, with the last visit one he'd like to forget about entirely. In May 2022, Newcastle welcomed an Arsenal side chasing Champions League qualification who knew nothing less than a win would do.
Instead, Arteta's men seemed overawed by the occasion and were on the wrong end of a 2-0 scoreline. An own goal from Ben White followed by a Bruno Guimaraes strike all but sealed the Gunners' place in the Europa League and sent the travelling Arsenal faithful back to London heartbroken.
Ahead of the reunion at the home of the Magpies, Arteta has confessed his players were all too keen to try and win and that may have cost them.
"We were desperate to win, you know that we had an incredible opportunity to get in to the Champions League after the run that we had and we got that crucial moment - we lost some very very important players, we had to change the team a lot."
Arsenal go into this contest with even more on the line.
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While Champions League qualification is secured already this time, Arteta knows that another defeat at Newcastle would all but end Arsenal's slim hopes of winning the Premier League this term.
The Spaniard has tried to emphasise the distance Arsenal have come since their last visit to St. James' Park, but conceded a huge improvement is required.
"It is a very different game," Arteta explained. "It was a year ago with different players, a different game but we’ll have to play much better than we did last year, that’s for sure.
"We know that it is going to be a really tough game because especially at home they’ve been really good."
The Gunners have failed to beat Newcastle since late 2021, when goals from Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka were enough to see off the Magpies at the Emirates.
A 0-0 draw in North London back in January of this year ensured Newcastle were the first team this season to take points off of the Gunners on their own patch this season.
However, Arsenal will have to end a two-year run without a win away at Newcastle if they are to avoid a similar fate as last term.
