Newcastle v Arsenal live updates - latest Premier League score as Gunners look to regain fourth spot

Matt Targett gets inside Takehiro Tomiyasu and plays through Callum Wilson, but he's flagged for offside.

Moments later, Aaron Ramsdale is dispossessed by Miguel Almiron a few yards out but the Newcastle man fails to control the ball and score what would have been a comical opener.

Eddie Nketiah roars up the left flank and cuts inside, but his shot ricochets off a wall of bodies. Mohamed Elneny has a bash on the follow-up, but it's also blocked.

We're underway at St James' Park.

The tension is rising at St James' Park. May the best team win.

... which can mean only one thing. Get the popcorn in the microwave because, one way or another, this is going to be very watchable.

Arteta has given his assessment of the match, which you can watch below.

Newcastle have won just one of their last 20 fixtures against Arsenal in all competitions. That victory came at St James' Park in 2018, towards the end of Arsene Wenger's last season, with Ayoze Perez, Matt Ritchie and Alexandre Lacazette scoring the goals as the hosts triumphed 2-1.

After their collapse in the north London derby, the next two games will serve as a definitive verdict on Mikel Arteta's second full season at Arsenal.

Six points will be enough to bring Champions League football back to the Emirates next term. Anything less will be a bitter disappointment at the end of a campaign in which the team have shown fleeting promise, but failed to shake their enduring flaws.

After a fraught first half of the campaign, Newcastle's strong run of form since the turn of the year saw them secure Premier League safety with over a month to spare. That has left them in mid-table limbo, however, and they come into this game on the back of consecutive defeats to Liverpool and Manchester City.

There are worse teams to lose to, of course, but Eddie Howe's side are left with little to play for between now and the end of the season. That may work in Arsenal's favour but, then again, the relative lack of pressure may allow them to play with refreshed freedom.

CONFIRMED TEAMS - NEWCASTLE: Dubravka, Krafth, Schar, Burn, Targett, Guimaraes, Longstaff, Joelinton, Almiron, Saint-Maximin, Wilson. /// ARSENAL: Ramsdale, Tomiyasu, White, Gabriel, Tavares, Xhaka, Elneny, Saka, Odegaard, Smith Rowe, Nketiah.

Good evening and welcome to our coverage of Arsenal's meeting with Newcastle at St James' Park.

Mikel Arteta's side have no time to dwell on their emphatic 3-0 defeat in the north London derby last time out, with two wins from their last two games enough to guarantee them a top-four spot. It's a high-stakes end to the season.