Good afternoon and welcome to our live text coverage of the Premier League match between Newcastle and Arsenal from St James' Park. The home side enter this game in a rich vein of form that has given them a new lease of life in the relegation battle despite still being in 17th. In April, they beat both Burnley and West Ham, while securing draws with Spurs and Liverpool. Arsenal, on the other hand, are currently in 11th and only won two out of seven games last month. We will be bringing you all the build-up, highlights and talking points from the match tonight, so stay tuned ahead of kick-off at 14:00.
Premier League / Matchday 34
St James' Park / 02.05.2021
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- M. Elneny(6')
- P. Aubameyang(66')
Live
Live Updates
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Updated 02/05/2021 at 15:00 GMT
13:50
STEVE BRUCE IN?
Bruce has been unpopular on Tyneside pretty much since he was first appointed, but the strong run of recent form seems to have done little to change fans' mind about him.
Is he really the main problem at St James' Park?
13:32
Steve Bruce does occasionally have a tendency to make some bizarre comments to the media and this is definitely one of them!
Anyone else manage to find their pet through social media? Don't think that's got anything to do with the social media boycott though really...
13:25
WHERE'S BALOGUN?
In spite of him signing a new contract amidst interest from other clubs, Folarin Balogun was again left out of the Arsenal matchday squad today after being left out on Thursday too.
Many thought that his lack of first team involvement would be what pushes him to leave, yet even despite him surprisingly signing a new deal, it is perhaps confusing that he is still lacking first team opportunities, even though it is admittedly still early days.
13:18
It may be a pleasant surprise for some Arsenal fans to see Martinelli starting considering he has only started five Premier League games this season and no European games.
After the Villarreal game on Thursday, Martin Keown even went as far as suggesting that Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta does not like Martinelli.
13:10
ARSENAL TEAM NEWS
Only three players stay in the starting XI from Thursday's Europa League semi-final defeat to Villarreal.
There's a surprise start for Mat Ryan in goal, while Gabriel, David Luiz and Hector Bellerin replace Pablo Mari, Rob Holding and Calum Chambers in defence.
Mohamed Elneny joins Dani Ceballos in centre midfield and the trio of Gabriel Martinelli, Martin Odegaard and Willian are playing behind captain Pierre-Emerick Aubemeyang, who returns to the starting line-up after recovering from malaria.
13:05
NEWCASTLE TEAM NEWS
Steve Bruce makes only one change from the 1-1 draw with Liverpool last Saturday, as Callum Wilson comes in for Joelinton up front.
They also persist with the 3-5-2 system, with Jacob Murphy and Matt Ritchie as wing-backs.
While 18 year-old attacking midfielder Elliot Anderson could be set to make his second ever Premier League appearance off the bench.