Team news

Emery delivers update on Lacazette's injury

Unai Emery was asked about Alexandre Lacazette's absence following our 2-1 defeat to Barcelona in the Gamper Trophy on Sunday night.

The France international did not travel to Spain as part of the 21-man squad due to injury - and our head coach explained Alex's absence in his post-match press conference.

"Hopefully he could be available for the match against Newcastle," Emery said. "The doctors, they are optimistic. We are going to wait. The next days are going to be very important to see how he is going to progress with his injury.

"But I am really, really happy with other players also. If he is ready for Sunday, perfect. If he isn't, then for the next.

"We need now to have a very competitive team, with the players ready forth next matches but above all to create a mentality to start strong and find our best performance in the next match."