Arsenal manager Unai Emery has explained why the club's new signings didn't start in Sunday's 1-0 win over Newcastle United.

David Luiz, Nicolas Pepe, Dani Ceballos and Gabriel Martinelli were all the bench, while Kieran Tierney was sidelined due to injury.

Asked why he didn't start his new players, Emery said: "I explained that the circumstances are different.

"David Luiz did pre-season with another team and he is okay to play physically but he only trained completely with us yesterday.

"On Friday he did 30 minutes with us. I was thinking to give them confidence to work together because they were working well together, Sokratis and Chambers.

"Nicolas Pepe came one week ago and physically he needs to get his best fitness to be ready to play 100 per cent for 90 minutes. I think that today 20 minutes is good for him.

"Ceballos is in the middle because he came before Pepe but he got an injury and he stopped training. But he needs to know the Premier League, so today was important for him and for us."