Ahead of this weekend’s early Saturday match between Newcastle United and Arsenal, from a black and white perspective, new Toon striker Aleksandar Mitrovic has a great opportunity to officially announce his arrival on Tyneside. Mitrovic scored against Arsenal with his old club Anderlecht in last season’s Champions League. And the Toon Army are now hoping Mitrovic will open up his goal scoring account against the same club. Were that to happen, the young Serb will surely be on his way to becoming a star at Newcastle.
If there is one thing appreciated at Tyneside, it is determination. When Aleksandar Mitrovic received a yellow card seconds into his home debut, he was applauded. His aggressive attitude is seen as an ability that has been lacking at the club for too long. However, the fans should take into account that those sorts of abilities are dangerously close to lack of discipline. At Anderlecht, Mitrovic received thirteen yellow and two red cards within his two years at the club. Continuing with statistics like that will inevitably be accompanied by suspensions and fans are not going to like a player who spends more time in the stands than on the pitch. Therefore, if he is to be a success, it is imperative he does contain his aggressive side and allow his ability to be at the forefront of his time on the pitch.
Mitrovic has the talent to make it in the Premier League. Added to that is the fact that his previous fitness coach stated Mitrovic was the most professional and hard-working player he had worked with. It seems many of the factors that would seem key to achieving success are already at place for the young Serb: a towering presence up front who is content to play as the lone striker, which is suits Newcastle’s style of play.
With Papiss Cisse given the nod over Mitrovic for the first couple of matches, Mitrovic enjoyed his first start of the season at Old Trafford last weekend, and even came quite close to scoring with a thunderous header that rattled the crossbar. He did not seem intimidated by the pressure of playing against such an illustrious side. That is no big surprise though, as Mitrovic is already used to playing in big matches.
Tomorrow’s encounter with Arsenal is certainly a big match with Newcastle looking for their first win of the season. However, their first win may be hard to find considering that they are facing a team they have not beaten in the last nine meetings. On the other hand, Newcastle and Mitrovic may be able to capitalise on a defence that will most likely not be at their full strength with Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker both doubts for the fixture due to injury and illness respectively. This provides Mitrovic with a perfect chance to test a more inexperienced Arsenal defence. The game will provide a great chance for him to open his Newcastle account assuming he can get the upper hand over the possible centre back pairing of Calum Chambers and Gabriel Paulista, who both started against Liverpool on Monday.
Even if he does not open his account against Arsenal, nevertheless he may still have a very impressive opening season in the Premier League.
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