Newcastle United vs Arsenal LIVE: Premier League latest updates
Follow all the action from St James’ Park as the Gunners look to reel in Chelsea and hold off Burnley, while Newcastle chase an impressive top-half finish
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Newcastle United host Arsenal in the 1330 BST kick-off at St James’ Park with both sides on the fringes of their respective Premier League battles.
For the Gunners, the top four is now out of sight and they are content with chasing Chelsea in fifth above them while holding off the charge of Burnley from below.
Newcastle meanwhile are sitting pretty above the relegation scrap, seemingly safe on 38 points, and can now target a top-half finish which would be an impressive achievement from a squad which many experts tipped to struggle this season.
Follow all the action below in our live blog:
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Good afternoon and welcome to The Independent's live coverage of Newcastle vs Arsenal. Like a hangover in Wolverhampton, we're hitting live blogging hard today after another fascinating day of fixtures in the Premier League.
Team News
Newcastle, rather unsurprisingly, name an unchanged side to the team that beat Leicester 2-1 last week.
Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang start together for the first time since the former Borussia Dortmund forward joined the club in January.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan remains sidelined and Mesut Ozil, Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere, and Laurent Koscielny are not in the match-day squad.
Last Time
When these sides met in December, Mesut Ozil's volley was the only goal of the game. The result fired Arsenal into the top four, with defeat taking Newcastle into the relegation zone.
Four months later and Newcastle are one win away from the coveted 40 point mark. Arsenal, meanwhile, are focusing their resources on the Europa League and sit in sixth, just two points about Burnley.
Everyone 'loves' popular Elneny
Mohamed Elneny has emerged as an unlikely key player for Arsenal this season. In the Europa League quarter-final, Elneny played at centre back and in central midfield and provided some glimpses of class to keep Arsenal in the game.
"He's not only loved," said Arsene Wenger on the club's official website, "he is also a very good player and he showed that in Moscow."
Rafa drops hint he's staying
There's an increasing likelihood that Mike Ashley will remain Newcastle owner, and it's looking like Rafa Benitez could be staying too.
“The club is moving up at the minute,” the Newcastle manager said. “What you have is all the potential; the fans, the stadium, the fans going to games away and at home, the city behind us."
Joe Willock
Another week and Premier League debut for an Arsenal youngster. Last week it was Reiss Nelson, this time it's 18-year-old Joe Willock who becomes the fourth player to play for Arsenal after Arsene Wenger took charge. Wow, what were you doing when you were 18...actually I don't want to know.
Joe Willock takes a look at where he'll be making his Premier League debut, what a place to start.
"In training he does well," says Arsene Wenger on Sky Sports. "It's a good opportunity, I had it in my head to give him a chance before end of season. You see in the first game if he's right at this level or not."
Predictions
So, how do we see this one going folks? I'm going for a 1-1 draw. Leave your predictions in the comments below or Tweet us and we'll share the best.
Benitez vs Wenger, tenth vs sixth, it's Newcastle vs Arsenal and it's just five minutes away.
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