Arsenal head to Newcastle on Sunday looking to keep pace with Premier League leaders Liverpool, while the Magpies are aiming to shake off a sluggish start and reassert themselves as top-six contenders.The Gunners, unbeaten in their last four matches, have taken 10 points from a possible 15 so far and will be eager to reverse a dismal trend on Tyneside.Newcastle have won their last three home games against the North Londoners, with Eddie Howe enjoying a similar run of success against his Arsenal counterpart Mikel Arteta, who has tasted defeat on four of his last five visits to St. James’ Park. Last Sunday, Arsenal salvaged a point late on against Manchester City in a 1-1 draw at the Emirates while Newcastle’s goalscoring problems persisted in a 0-0 draw at Bournemouth.BET £10 AND GET £30 IN FREE BETS WITH TALKSPORT BETNewcastle vs Arsenal betting tipsBoth Teams to Score – No @ 9/10Over 4.5 Total Cards @ 6/5Anthony Gordon 3+ Shots @ 6/4Bet Builder – 21/2Defensive masterclasses incomingRecent games between these two teams have followed a familiar pattern, with the side scoring first going on to control the match and shut up shop.That was Arsenal when the sides last met at the back end of last season, but Newcastle had won all three of their previous league and cup clashes to nil in similar fashion. The Gunners have not been at their fluent best this season for a couple of reasons. Arteta splashed the cash on three new attackers in the summer and they have all found themselves thrust straight into starting roles amid a spate of injuries to Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz and Martin Odegaard.New attacking patterns and passing relationships take time to bed in and it is a shame for Arsenal that Noni Madueke has picked up an injury just as he was getting going in a Gunners shirt.It’s also fair to say that Arteta has leaned more on his defence to grind out results in the early weeks of the campaign and has yet to fully release the handbrake.This might be the game where he does that with Saka pushing to start again and Odegaard close to making his return.But Newcastle’s backline has looked very assured this season too with a trio of hard-working, combative central midfielders ahead of them to offer further protection.The Magpies have faced the fewest shots in the division (37) and their opponents have the lowest combined expected goals in the Premier League (2.5).Recent history suggests one or both teams will be shut out on Sunday with 15 of the last 16 meetings failing to see goals at each end. Card count could be boosted by Howe’s edge demandThere has also been a trend for very edgy matches when these two meet and the clashes are rarely short on controversy.Arsenal complained about ‘unacceptable refereeing and VAR errors’ following their 1-0 defeat on Tyneside two years ago when Arteta called the decision to allow Anthony Gordon’s winner ‘a disgrace’.Havertz was fortunate to escape a red card in that game as he was one of six players cautioned and there have been five or more yellow cards in four of the last six meetings.Any hope that referee Jarred Gillett had for a quiet afternoon probably evaporated when Howe admitted that he wanted his team to show more of their competitive edge.And he probably has a point given his side collected only one card apiece in their dull games against Aston Villa, Leeds, Wolves and Bournemouth but received two yellows and a red in that storming home defeat to Liverpool, which saw the Magpies at their best.Get on Gordon to maintain shot average Gordon was sent off in that game and served a three-game ban before returning against Bradford City in midweek.He attempted six shots in that 4-1 EFL Cup third-round win, which is about par for the course for him this season.The former Everton winger is averaging 6.72 shots per game in the Premier League, albeit from a small sample size of one and a half matches.Even so, Gordon has averaged over two shots per game in the league for the past two completed seasons and looks a big price to register three or more efforts on goal this Sunday.BET £10 AND GET £30 IN FREE BETS WITH TALKSPORT BETOdds correct at time of publish and subject to change*18+ New customers only. 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