Premier League headlines as Mikel Arteta hints at unfamiliar selection for Newcastle clash

A roundup of Premier League headlines from Sunday, May 15.

Mikel Arteta has hinted he may drop Granit Xhaka or Mohamed Elneny into defence for Monday night’s trip to Newcastle as a result of having no fully-fit senior centre-backs available.

The Gunners will be without Rob Holding after he was sent off for an elbow on Heung-Min Son in Thursday’s 3-0 defeat to Tottenham, while Gabriel picked up a hamstring injury to compound their derby-day misery.

Ben White was fit enough only for the bench on Thursday but may be forced to return alongside one of Xhaka or Elneny, who have both played in defence before but as part of a back three.

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“We will have to modify certain positions to try to make it work because we don’t have more defenders.” Arteta said.

“And even though we have academy defenders they haven’t experienced a lot those positions because they are not specified central defenders. It is something that we will try to find a way.”

The shortlists have been revealed for this season’s Manager and Player of the Season awards, with voting now open for the winners.

Newcastle’s Eddie Howe is on the five-man shortlist for the manager award after leading the Magpies from sure-fire relegation to a potential top-half finish. He is joined by Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp - whose sides are in a scintillating fight for the title - as well as Brentford’s Thomas Frank and Crystal Palace boss Patrick Viera.

Kevin De Bruyne and Mohamed Salah lead the way for the player award, with Joao Cancelo and Trent Alexander-Arnold also nominated from the league’s top two clubs. Also in the mix are Son, Jarrod Bowen, Bukayo Saka and