Arsenal

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta speaking to Sky Sports: “We keep digging like we have done every single day, every single game, trying to get the best out of the players and be the team that we are. Today we are going to have a very difficult challenge ahead of us but we’re looking forward to it.

On Gabriel recovering from injury in time to face Newcastle: “A very important player for us. It was a struggle for a few days but he managed to train yesterday and he’s fully fit.”

Newcastle United

Newcastle manager Eddie Howe speaking to Sky Sports about starting Callum Wilson and Alexander Isak together for the first time: “I just felt it was the right time with how both players have performed. Sean Longstaff’s injury creates a gap for us. I believe the system can work. The proof will be in the pudding.”

On Sean Longstaff’s injury: “We thought he would be back this week but he’s felt a bit of pain in his foot. We still don’t think there’s a huge problem, but it’s concerning. I think he’s going to see a specialist next week.”

On Arsenal: “We are going to have to be very good out of possession. Our performance is going to be in our defending, whether that is pressing or defending deeper, we are going to have to be very good because they have got outstanding players and a really good way of playing.

“We’re at home so we want to play a certain way here, we want to involve the crowd. The best way to do that is to show our intent to win, whether we are in or out of possession.”

Matty Renton, The Magpie Channel TV, external

Have Newcastle United unearthed the new Thierry Henry?

Comparisons have been rife this week and Eddie Howe agreed he can see the similarities in the style of play, build and agility. Isak surely bagged the assist of the season after his unbelievable run up the left flank of Goodison Park leaving several Everton defenders in his wake before putting it on a plate for Jacob Murphy to tap in.

Rave reviews have been flocking in for the number 14 (another similarity with Henry) after a scintillating debut season where he has reached double figures for goals scored. Only Erling Haaland has a better goal-to-minute ratio. His versatility to play centrally or wide left and still be a constant threat is so valuable.

At only 23, his best years are ahead of him and the £60 million+ Newcastle United forked out to Real Sociedad for his services could yet prove to be a bargain.

As for his strike partner Callum Wilson, he is thriving under the competition of Isak, reaching 15 goals, which is one of the highest for English strikers in the Premier League. Howe must be delighted with his options on the bench now in the form of Wilson plus Anthony Gordon and Miguel Almiron.

Even more delighted are the Toon Army. Thirteen goals in a week, three wins, third place. An amazing April leaves them on the cusp of Champions League football.

Image source, Getty Images

Callum Wilson says he has had to do his "talking on the field" following an impressive return to form.

The Newcastle striker scored eight league goals in April and told the Footballer's Football Podcast, he is on one of the best streaks of his career.

"In goals-to-games ratio and after only starting twice, scoring eight goals coming of the bench then yeah, this has probably been one of the best in my career," he said.

Wilson made Gareth Southgate's England squad for the World Cup but, after returning from Qatar, he netted only one goal in seven games.

However, since scoring against Manchester United on 2 April, he has been in sparkling form and intends to keep pushing himself to prove his doubters wrong.

"It's going all right at the moment but you still want more," he said. "You still want to keep pushing and I do not forget the months that have gone by where people were writing me off.

"All of a sudden now everyone wants to chat? I don't hold grudges, but I use that for fuel and that's probably what has brought out the best in me.

"I had a little dip in form and then all of a sudden everyone is talking about me saying crazy things. I thought I've got to quieten everything down and just do my talking on the field.

"That is what I have done and I don't need to say any more."

Listen to the full podcast on BBC Sounds

Image source, Getty Images

Former Newcastle player John Anderson feels "there's no reason" why strikers Callum Wilson and Alexander Isak shouldn't play together.

Speaking on BBC Radio Newcastle's Total Sport Newcastle United podcast, the former defender questioned the reasons behind leaving the England international on the bench.

"You just can't keep leaving player's who have come onto the pitch and scored two goals out of the team. They can't do anymore than come on and score and then you leave them out, it's not as if there is three games this week either so it's not as if you're trying to protect Callum Wilson," said Anderson.

"I think when they've played together twice, at Brentford and at the weekend, they looked superb, so I think people want them to start together.

"I understand when you've got three games in a week and you want to protect players but they haven't got that this week so they've got a full week to prepare for Leeds and I would like to see them start."

Sweden international Isak has shown his quality since his return from injury, ranking in the top five players in the league for shot conversion - with a rate of 26% from just 17 games - and in the top seven for big chances converted with 64%.

Forward Wilson had a record-breaking April after scoring eight goals in one calendar month, despite coming off the bench in most of those games.

"When you've got a whole week to prepare can Wilson not play two games in six or seven? If not that would be a worry," Anderson added.

"I think Wilson will now want to play, he's made statements scoring goals, he won't want to be sat on the bench.

"Player's want to play and we've got three full weeks now, there's no reason why it shouldn't happen.

"I think when they both play on the pitch, they pull the best out of each other."

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

Mikel Arteta has praised Sunday's opponents Newcastle and is expecting a "tough" game at the side immediately below the Gunners in the Premier League.

The Spaniard returns to the scene of the game that effectively ended their hopes of Champions League qualification last season - hoping for a better result this time round to keep their title hopes alive.

"It will be a very different game," said Arteta. "A year ago it was different players and a different game but we are going to have to play much better than we did last year, that's for sure.

"We know that it is going to be a really tough game because especially at home they have been really, really good."

The Magpies put in a dogged display when the two sides met at Emirates Stadium in January and escaped London with a 0-0 draw.

The Gunners boss knows his team need to improve if they are to come away with more.

"That was a game we deserved to win but we didn't in the end," he said. "They are a really good side and are well coached. They have good players and the right environment around the club right now, so they are in a good place.

"We will try to play the game we want and they will want to play a very different game. That's the battle from when we played them at the Emirates."

For this week's Premier League predictions, Chris Sutton faces Carnival Row star and Everton fan Andrew Gower.

Image source, BBC Sport

Chris Sutton's prediction: 2-1

I was at Emirates Stadium on Tuesday and Arsenal were very good - but there is an argument that Chelsea made them look very good.

I thought Gunners defender Jakub Kiwior had a really good game against the Blues, but stopping an in-form Newcastle United side is a much bigger ask.

The way the Magpies take the game to teams is great to watch and there is no way whatsoever this one will end goalless again, like it did when they met in January.

Arsenal need to keep winning to keep the pressure up on Manchester City, and a draw is not enough for them. Sadly for them, I can see Newcastle nicking this and continuing their impressive form.

Gower's prediction: What a game this is. Arsenal will have a bit of confidence back after beating Chelsea on Tuesday, but going to St James' Park has turned into one of the toughest games of the season. 3-1

Find out what Sutton and Gower predicted for the rest of the weekend's games and cast your vote

To touch on one other aspect of Saturday's Premier League football... both Tottenham and Crystal Palace have condemned alleged racist abuse directed towards Son Heung-min during Spurs' home win.

Posts on social media appear to show a man in the away end making a gesture at the South Korea forward on Saturday.

Kick It Out have released a statement this morning...

Kick It Out Head of Player Engagement Troy Townsend said: "Kick It Out are appalled to hear that Heung-Min Son was subject to alleged racist abuse during yesterday’s Premier League fixture between Tottenham Hotspur and Crystal Palace.

"This is not the first time that he has been forced to endure such abhorrent discrimination. It is vital that player welfare is always the priority, and we urge football’s stakeholders to examine whether their policy of making players leave the pitch at the nearest point can in certain circumstances risk exposing players to discriminatory abuse, particularly during moments of high tension in the game.

"Furthermore, we commend the clubs and the Metropolitan Police for their swift response to this incident and echo Crystal Palace’s stance that any perpetrators must receive a club ban for their actions.

"Kick It Out are here to support all victims of discriminatory abuse and we would encourage anybody who sadly experiences or witnesses abuse of any kind in the game to report it to us."

Image source, BBC Sport

There wasn't much change at the bottom, with only Leeds of the relegation-threatened teams in action.

Weirdly, considering they suffered yet another loss to put them further in danger, Sam Allardyce and his team will probably come away from yesterday's defeat at City in a better mood than before.

The fear will have been they could see their goal difference take another battering, but just the one-goal hit and a bit of a morale-boosting second-half effort means they've got a tiny bit more optimism going into their tough three remaining games.

One of those is at West Ham, who would very much like to be 'on the beach' in the Premier League by then. A win today will take them a long way towards that.

Image source, Getty Images

That four-point gap at the top of the table was established yesterday, courtesy of Manchester City's 2-1 victory over Leeds.

Without looking at anything but the scoreline, you might imagine that it was a close game - and to be fair, there was a bit of tension flying about the Etihad after the Whites snatched a goal back late on. For 85 minutes, though, it was possibly the most one-sided Premier League there has been. Almost a training exercise for an utterly-dominant City, who made 795 successful passes to their opponents' 120. 592 of City's passes came in Leeds' half. Possession? That was just 81-19 in favour of Pep Guardiola's team.

I made a pretty garbled (and on reflection antagonistic-seeming) comment in the live yesterday, asking if City fans get the same joy from such a one-sided victory as they might by beating a more closely-matched opponent - say, Real Madrid on Tuesday?

I can't stop some seeing my genuine interest in the psychology of being a fan (and the unique complexities of that in the modern game) as something more sinister. I'm sorry I framed it poorly. But please don't see it as any evidence of bias towards one club or another from the staff here (many of whom had to do their job while a protest against the BBC took place on the other side of the window to their office yesterday).

We don't always get it right, but I can promise you everyone on this site works really hard to try and provide the best, most honest, insightful and balanced coverage they can. They're good people, who are simply trying to provide you with the best service possible. Anyway, back to today...

Here is the latest state of play in the top half of the Premier League...

Image source, Getty Images

The football has already come thick and fast this morning. Manchester United have secured another big win in WSL, beating Tottenham 3-0 to move six points clear at the top.

It has been a typically dramatic final day in the regular League One season. Plymouth took the title, Peterborough took a play-off spot at Derby's expense and Cambridge survived, with MK Dons dropping to League Two.

And then, in the National League play-offs, Notts County scored late to beat Boreham Wood 3-2 in extra-time! Chesterfield v Bromley still to come in the other semi-final.

You can read all about this and more on our football page.

Celtic can also clinch the SPL title today. They are playing Hearts and live text commentary is here.

So, Eddie Howe has decided to set his front two on Arsenal. What do you make of that, Newcastle fans?

Feeling nervous, Arsenal supporters?

You can get in touch with us and share your views on today's games by using the hashtag #bbcfootball on Twitter or by texting us on 81111 (UK only - standard message rates apply).

Eddie Howe makes one change to the Newcastle side that beat Southampton last Sunday with Anthony Gordon replaced by Callum Wilson.

Newcastle XI: Pope, Trippier, Schar, Botman, Burn; Joelinton, Bruno Guimaraes, Willock; Murphy Isak, Wilson.

Subs: Dubravka, Dummett, Gordon, Saint-Maximin, Lewis, Targett, Manquillo, Almiron, Anderson.

As for Arsenal, they also make one change to the side that beat Chelsea last time out. Gabriel Martinelli comes in for Leandro Trossard who drops to the bench.

Arsenal XI: Ramsdale; White, Kiwior, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Odegaard, Jorginho, Xhaka; Saka, Gabriel Jesus, Trossard.

Subs: Turner, Tierney, Partey, Smith Rowe, Nketiah, Holding, Trossard, Vieira, Nelson.

Myself and m'colleague Neil Johnston will be here to live text commentate on today's two games. I'll be taking care of Newcastle v Arsenal before Neil takes over to cover West Ham v Man Utd.

You can also follow the first of those two games on BBC Radio 5 Live, who have been on football duty since 12:00 BST. Build-up to the action at St James' Park starts at 16:00 with full live commentary from 16:30. After that, it's 606.

Later today, at 22:30 on BBC One, there's Match of the Day 2, where you can watch all the best action and reaction from Sunday's two matches.

We've got quite an odd bit of scheduling today, with an unusually long wait until half four for the first game of the day and then another wait until 7pm for the second.

That first game is, of course, the one I've just been writing about - the key battle at the top between title-chasing Arsenal and top-four aspirants Newcastle.

The following contest also has implications in that battle for Champions League football, with Manchester United at West Ham. The Red Devils are just a point ahead of fifth-placed Liverpool now, although today's game is one of two they have in hand.

It's an important game for the Hammers too. They're still not safe from the drop and could do with putting that to bed so they can then focus on their upcoming European semi-final.

Image source, Getty Images

Only one visiting team have won at St James' Park this season - and it took a red card to neuter Newcastle's hopes of a comeback after going 2-0 down to Liverpool in February.

In 16 league games, Eddie Howe's team have won 10 of them, scored 32 and conceded 11. Not long ago, they were 5-0 up here against Tottenham inside 21 minutes.

Arsenal are going to have to be on the very top of their game to get the win they so desperately need. A loss here and that title race starts to look like it has only one horse in it.

Image source, Getty Images

There's simply no margin for error now. No room for slip ups, no space for knacking it. If Arsenal want to make good on their first-three-quarters-of-the-season promise of winning the title, they pretty much have to be perfect from here on in. And even that may not be enough.

Manchester City's win over Leeds yesterday, in frankly one of the most one-sided contests you will see (regardless of the seemingly close scoreline), means second-placed Arsenal trail the leaders by four points with just four games to go.

It leaves us all poring over the remaining fixtures, trying to work out where any twists might come. You don't have to look very long to clock where the Gunners' toughest remaining game comes...

It's at Newcastle, and it's today.