Cech out to cure Arsenal’s away-day blues
PETR Cech is aiming to banish Arsenal’s woeful away form in an attempt to return to the Premier League’s top four.
The Gunners missed out on Champions League football for the second successive year in Arsene Wenger’s final season at the helm.
Just four victories away from the Emirates, with a 1-0 win at Huddersfield on the final day their only three-point haul on the road in the second half of the season, was the main factor.
Arsenal finished sixth, 12 points adrift of Liverpool in fourth, with Jurgen Klopp’s side winning five more away games throughout the season.
Now under the guidance of
head coach Unai Emery, Arsenal went into the international break on the back of a 3-2 win at Cardiff and travel to Newcastle today looking for back-to-back away league wins for the first time since May 2017.
“Last season, the difference between being in the Champions League and Europa League was down to our away form,” Cech said. “We are aware of that and it was good to see that at Cardiff, in our second away game, we won it.
“We want to carry on the momentum. We are in a position where we dropped points in the first two games, we need to keep winning now to be able to close the gap at the top.”
Arsenal lost 2-1 at St James’s Park in April and, having played under Newcastle boss Rafael Benitez at Chelsea, Cech is not expecting an easy ride.
“We expect a difficult game. I know Rafa Benitez, he is a very experienced coach with big tactically ability,” said Cech. “He will set up his team in a way which is always difficult to play against.”