VAR was a topic of discussion once again as Arsenal's clash with Newcastle was steeped in plenty of controversy surrounding a few feisty moments. The Gunners went into the tie at St. James' Park looking for a response to their shock exit from the Carabao Cup against West Ham in midweek.

Some injury troubles have reared their head before the match as Gabriel Jesus and Thomas Partey were already unavailable with hamstring concerns. Then club captain Martin Odegaard was missing due to a late fitness test that concluded he wouldn't be risked - though football.london understands it isn't a serious absence.

Newcastle is far from an easy place to travel and it was shown early on as the game was deadlocked for the first half with few chances either way. Then came some life into proceedings as Kai Havertz made a reckless challenge on the byline to stir up the players and fans alike.

The bookings went flying and so too did the challenges from both teams, with tensions rising every second that passed. It seemed to come to a head when Bruno Guimaraes went flying into a challenge that he missed before getting up and leading into a tackle on Jorginho with his forearm and elbow.

It caught the Arsenal midfielder on the head, who went to ground and the check from there went to the VAR for approval over whether it would be serious foul play. No action was taken though, which brought up plenty of questions over whether the right decision had been made.

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Gary Neville believed that the Brazilian was very fortunate as he said on Sky Sports: "I think he’s very lucky there Guimaraes, he’s a lucky boy. He dives in initially so his head is gone and there, in slow motion it's even worse.

"I'm not having that, he's a very lucky boy. It's just so unnecessary, it's an arm/elbow in the head and the only reason is because he wants to give somebody a whack.

"I think his head has gone here Guimaraes, Eddie Howe needs to get his team into that dressing room now. Havertz started all this about 10 minutes ago and Newcastle have reacted very poorly to it."

Jamie Carragher then added at half-time: "For me it’s a silly challenge again, similar to Havertz, he’s lost his head and it’s more of a forearm for me. It’s not great, he’s a lucky boy, but I don't think it’s a red card, if the referee sees it, I think he gives him a yellow."