Newcastle United vs Arsenal

St James’ Park is the venue as Newcastle United and Arsenal go head-to-head in a blockbuster top-four six-pointer.

Newcastle United’s return to the Champions League after more than two decades looks like a near-certainty after a come-from-behind 3-1 home win over Southampton last weekend extended their winning streak in the Premier League to three matches, all of which saw them net 3+ goals. Six points clear of fifth-placed Liverpool with a game in hand, the ‘Magpies’ return to St James’ Park, where they’ve lost just once in 16 league outings this season (W10, D5), looking to go unbeaten in both seasonal meetings with Arsenal in the top flight for the first time since 2010/11. An uneventful scoreless draw in the reverse fixture in London means Eddie Howe’s men have held the ‘Gunners’ goalless in back-to-back league H2Hs (W1, D1), including a 2-0 victory in this corresponding game last season.

With the prospect of losing consecutive away encounters against Newcastle in the Premier League for the first time since 1996 looming, Arsenal will be out to build on a morale-boosting 3-1 home win over Chelsea in midweek. That result helped Mikel Arteta’s team arrest an underwhelming four-game winless league run (D3, L1), during which they conceded at least twice on each occasion. But with Manchester City back to the top with a point lead and a game in hand, Arsenal’s hopes of landing a first Premier League title in almost 20 years are no longer in their control. The ‘Gunners’ have won none of their last three league matches away from home (D2, L1), conceding an average of 2.66 goals per game. However, they’ll be confident about plugging their defensive leaks at St James’ Park after recording a Premier League-high 29 clean sheets against Newcastle.