This is the perfect opportunity to get out my Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang anecdote from when he played in the London 2012 Olympics in Newcastle.

One for half-time. Ooooh, the suspense.

Sharp start from Arsenal. Down the left, Gabriel Martinelli cuts in and whips the ball towards Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who is lurking in the box. But the cross is easily gathered by Martin Dubravka.

Nedum Onuoha
Former Manchester City defender on BBC Radio 5 Live

Newcastle are in a great spot and can stay up if they win today. Credit to them. I know they aren't necessarily happy that the season hasn't gone the way they hope, but to know have the status for next season gives them a sense hope and to have fans coming back into the stadium that's exactly what they needed.

About 55 seconds in and Mike Dean is already blowing up for a foul. Sean Longstaff whacks Granit Xhaka close to the halfway line. Just letting him know he's there.

Game on!

And Mike Dean fans will be delighted to know he is the man who is whistling today.

One final reminder of the two teams? Gotcha.

Newcastle: Dubravka, Murphy, Fernandez, Clark, Dummett, Ritchie, Almiron, Sean Longstaff, Shelvey, Saint-Maximin, Wilson. Subs: Matthew Longstaff, Schar, Joelinton, Gayle, Lewis, Hendrick, Krafth, Gillespie, Anderson.

Arsenal: Ryan, Bellerin, Luiz, Gabriel, Xhaka, Elneny, Ceballos, Willian, Odegaard, Martinelli, Aubameyang. Subs: Leno, Saka, Cedric, Thomas, Pepe, Chambers, Pablo Mari, Nketiah, Smith-Rowe.

Newcastle wander out a few moments later before the St James' DJ presses play on Dire Straits. And that isn't a dig.

if Arsenal played football as good as they did fashion they would be title contenders. The visitors are decked out in the kind of 90s-inspired tacky tops which have football hipsters getting excited on Insta.

"One of the poorest Arsenal teams, I've ever seen," says Roy Keane. Very hard to disagree.

And, with a changed and weakened Gunners team today, Newcastle must be licking their lips at the chance to end their dismal run against the visitors.

Right then, almost showtime. Arsenal file down the narrow St James' tunnel first...

Mark Lawrenson
BBC football expert

Arsenal's priority has to be the Europa League now because it is the only way they are getting into Europe next season.

The Gunners are extremely inconsistent at the best of times and I just have a feeling Newcastle will come out on top here.

Part of that is down to the Magpies' form - they have won two and drawn two of their past four games - but they also have their big guns back in attack and they have made a big difference.

Prediction: 2-1

Lawro's full predictions v Royal Blood drummer Ben Thatcher

How big a miss has Callum WIlson been, Newcastle fans? He looked as sharp as a skin-fade haircut when he came on against Liverpool last weekend.

You will remember he was controversially denied an equaliser at Anfield before Joe Willock - missing today because he is on loan from Arsenal - did grab a well-earned point.

Newcastle boss Steve Bruce, speaking to Sky Sports: "We've put together a run in the last eight games or so and only lost once, it was vitally important to put some type of run together.

"We understand what is at stake. We have come so far and it would be good to gets something against a good Arsenal team.

"There has been a change in formation but our big players at top end of the pitch being fit is key. When you're in the bottom half, you need them when you are in our position.

"I always said, quietly, we would be OK as long as we got the big players fit and ready. That gives us a big boost.

"Callum Wilson has been desperate for weeks but you have to be careful with hamstring injuries. When he burst through against Liverpool showed me he was ready."

So what's changed for Newcastle? A tweak of formation and the recovery from injury of Allan Saint-Maximin and Callum Wilson, according to Steve Bruce.

Here's what the Newcastle boss has had to say in the run-up to kick-off...

This is how the table stands from a Newcastle perspective...

Despite that upturn of form, Newcastle are still fourth bottom after Brighton's home win against Leeds yesterday.

However, they are now nine points clear of third-bottom Fulham.

A win today against the Gunners - who have won 16 of their past 17 meetings - would almost mathematically secure Newcastle's place in the top-flight next season.

It would put them on 39 points and lift them up to 13th, giving Bruce's side a genuine chance of matching last season's performance of 44 points and 13th place.

Asked what hitting that target would mean, Bruce said: "Look, it's not a success.

"But if we can match last year, where we got to, then I think we would all accept that would be, considering the problems we've had, acceptable."

Newcastle United

Newcastle were hurtling towards the drop zone like a stricken spider on a ice slope not too long back.

That woeful 3-0 defeat at Brighton left them just two points above the bottom three and seemingly in freefall.

Somehow Steve Bruce and his players have managed to turn things around, claiming eight points from their past four matches against Tottenham, Burnley, West Ham and Liverpool to ease their relegation worries.

"Certainly when you throw in the horror show at Brighton, then you have to have a response," said Bruce.

"It was arguably the low point of the season. I know we've maybe had two or three low points and the one thing we needed to do was respond."

"All of them have responded in a positive way to say, 'Look, we weren't good enough on the night and we've got to be better than that if we're going to stay in this division'."

Ouch. Quite the two-footed tackle from Nedum Onuoha there. Arsenal fans, let's have your right of reply.

Nedum Onuoha
Former Manchester City defender on BBC Radio 5 Live

Arsenal have been so far off where some of these other teams this year have been. You can see how angry and disappointed Arsenal fans are, to the point where I don't even know if they would even be happy if they got to the Europa League final and won the Europa League final.

Things have been so bad for them this year, I don't know what would make them happy.