here has been a tendency – veering on desperation – at Arsenal to over-celebrate any wins in recent years but how they will hope that a thumping victory over Newcastle United will be the lift-off for the rest of this campaign. “We showed why we’re definitely on the right path,” Mesut Ozil tweeted after the game and while that was a measured enough statement, there was one passage of play – ended by the German – that Mikel Arteta will point to as the most aesthetically pleasing sign of progress. It came in the 90th minute with, admittedly, the contest won as Ozil steered a cross from substitute Alexandre Lacazette towards the Newcastle goal only for Martin Dubravka to spill it over the line. While the finish was messy, the build-up was impressive with the 35 passes leading to the goal being the most achieved by any side in the Premier League this season. That it was Ozil’s first league goal in 301 days, though, was a sobering enough and counterbalancing thought and shows how far Arsenal still have to go, which was also reflected in the fact that the three points lifted them to the giddy heights of 10th – above Burnley on goal difference. This was also only their second league win in eight matches under Arteta and for all the talk of the good work he has done behind-the-scenes and, especially, on the training ground, he was starting to look like a manager who needed to back that with some results. Sky Sports Premier League ✔ @SkySportsPL Pepe pounces ⚽️ Two goals in five minutes for Arsenal and this time Saka deserves all of the plaudits 📺 Watch on Sky Sports Premier League 📱 Follow #ARSNEW here: http://trib.al/KXlfDxg 📲 Download the @SkySports app! Embedded video 1,985 19:45 - 16 Feb 2020 Twitter Ads information and privacy 418 people are talking about this Win he did and although they are halfway up the table, Arsenal have given themselves an unexpected platform to rise much higher. In this tight league they are just seven points behind fourth-placed Chelsea, before they host Manchester United on Monday night. An added incentive is that if the Uefa ban on Arteta’s former club Manchester City is upheld then fifth place this season could deliver a shock Champions League place. It is up to Arsenal to now show what they are made of. As was said during that famous commentary in their 1989 title-winning season, “It’s up for grabs now”, but do they have the mettle to do it? Or, as has so often been the case in their recent history, will they crumble when the pressure is on? It was hard to judge against a Newcastle side who delivered their customary meek performance against Arsenal – it is now 14 league defeats from their last 15 meetings – even if they had two clear chances to pull goals back after conceding twice in just 156 seconds early in the second half. That flurry followed the tamest of first periods when it felt almost soporific inside the Emirates as Arteta packed his side with attacking players – and gave Eddie Nketiah his first league start for the club ahead of the out-of-form Lacazette – but watched on in frustration as nothing really happened. Nicolas Pepe produced one of his best performances in an Arsenal shirt Nicolas Pepe produced one of his best performances in an Arsenal shirt CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES Follow your club now for first access to all our news, views and analysis Newcastle It has, though, been a feature of Arteta’s time in charge so far that he has managed to coax, on demand, improved displays after half-time and it again proved to be the case as Arsenal continued their unbeaten start to 2020 but, for once, gained a win rather than yet another draw. The breakthrough, which followed Nketiah striking the top of the crossbar as he met a Nicolas Pepe cutback, owed much to Newcastle’s passive defending. It was not a good look from new signing Danny Rose as he stood off Pepe – who would go on to be involved in all four goals – allowing him to cross and neither was it impressive as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was allowed to direct his header back across goal to beat Dubravka with Federico Fernandez leaving the other new signing, Valentino Lazaro, to deal with the striker. The second goal quickly followed from the opposite flank as Bukayo Saka tricked his way into the penalty area by nutmegging Lazaro before picking out Pepe, who met the low cross first-time to sweep the ball past Dubravka. It was a tough debut for Lazaro, a winger who was deployed as a wing-back. Aubameyang’s cross had clipped the top of the bar but Arsenal showed their weakness as they offered Newcastle those two chances back into the game. The first had to be taken but Ciaran Clark made a mess of a shot that was deflected away for a corner by David Luiz. Then Allan Saint-Maximin, the one Newcastle player to carry a threat, ran at the Arsenal defence before bending a right-footed shot from the edge of the area that beat Bernd Leno but thudded back off the base of a post. The gloss on the scoreline came late. First, there was Ozil’s finish and, then, another much-needed goal – this time for Lacazette even if it, too, had a touch of fortune as he met Pepe’s cross only to miscue his shot, which struck his standing foot before diverting into the net. Newcastle will no doubt have cursed their luck but the truth is that they deserved nothing more and while Arsenal will be looking up the table, they will be nervously glancing below them. They have to show more ambition than this. ArsenalV.Newcastle United Attack General Play Distribution Defence & Discipline Goals 4 100%0% 0 Total Shots (including blocked shots) 15 60%40% 10 Shots On Target 7 77.8%22.2% 2 Blocked Shots 2 40%60% 3 Shots from outside the box 5 50%50% 5 Shots from inside the box 10 66.7%33.3% 5 Shot Accuracy (excluding blocked shots) 53.8% 53.8%28.6% 28.6% Action areas Arsenal v. Newcastle Possession 17.8% 54.0% 28.2% 68.7% 31.3% Arsenal 1 Bernd Leno 20 Shkodran Mustafi 23 David Luiz 2 Héctor Bellerín 77 Bukayo Saka 19 Nicolas Pépé 10 Mesut Özil 14 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 34 Granit Xhaka 8 Dani Ceballos 30 Eddie Nketiah Substitutes 11 Lucas Torreira 9 Alexandre Lacazette 28 Joseph Willock Newcastle United 1 Martin Dubravka 28 Danny Rose 23 Valentino Lazaro 2 Ciaran Clark 18 Federico Fernández 6 Jamaal Lascelles 24 Miguel Almirón 36 Sean Longstaff 10 Allan Saint-Maximin 42 Nabil Bentaleb 9 Joelinton Substitutes 5 Fabian Schär 11 Matt Ritchie 14 Isaac Hayden 6:25pm Join me in the comments Let"s go have a chat about the game. 6:23pm FULL TIME A fantastic second half performance from Arsenal has won them the game. Newcastle were better in the first 45 but couldn"t replicate the intensity after the break and Arteta"s side turned on the style to pummel their opponents. Really impressive stuff. 6:21pm GOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAALLLLLL!!! AND THERE IT IS! Arsenal 4 Newcastle 0 Lacazette makes it four with a great finish, and is surrounded by his delighted teammates to celebrate. Pepe sets up the goal after a clever through-ball from Willock. On replay the finish isn"t great, it"s actually a total mis-hit. Regardless, Lacazette has finally scored. 6:19pm 90 mins+ 3 - Arsenal 2 Newcastle 0 Six minutes of added time to come. Arsenal look like they want a fourth. 6:16pm GOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLL!!!! Great goal. Ozil scores the third! Arsenal 3 Newcastle 0 Ozil links play well, moves into space, bursts with the ball past halfway and spots Lacazette. A through ball finds him, Lacazette swings the cross back into the area and Ozil gets a boot to it, placing the shot into the goalkeeper, who spills into his own net. 6:14pm 88 mins - Arsenal 2 Newcastle 0 Saka has been the best player on the pitch today. He underlaps on the break again as Arsenal counter, bursts beyond the defence and then fizzes a low ball towards Lacazette in the area. It"s just a yard too far for the striker to connect and the chance goes. Great run. 6:11pm 85 mins - Arsenal 2 Newcastle 0 Ritchie tries a shot from miles out and boots it even further wide. Nketiah is replaced by Lacazette. Pretty sure this game is done now anyway. 6:09pm 83 mins - Arsenal 2 Newcastle 0 Saka has been booked for his challenge. Ceballos is subbed for Torreira and gets a standing ovation from the crowd. Clark hobbles off to be replaced by Schar. 6:08pm 82 mins - Arsenal 2 Newcastle 0 That is a bad challenge by Saka. He"s lunged into a slide tackle while falling off balance and landed heavily on Clark, making his lower left leg bend in a way that human legs are not supposed to. Clark should be OK but has needed some time to recover from the impact. Saka is also being treated. Torreira is about to come on for Arsenal. 6:05pm 79 mins - Arsenal 2 Newcastle 0 Saint-Maximin is still giving Bellerin a bit of nightmare on the left wing but his final ball is so clumsy and he runs into trouble too often. He"s frustrating and the most likely to make something happening at the same time. 6:02pm 76 mins - Arsenal 2 Newcastle 0 SUBS: Ritchie and Hayden on, Fernandez and Lozaro off. That might be a change in formation, Hayden is a midfielder rather than a centre-back so it"ll be a 4-something... and I"m completely wrong. Hayden has gone to right back. SAINT-MAXIMIN HITS THE POST! He"s half way off running to celebrate as he opens his foot up and plants a curling low effort into the bottom corner but the upright pings it back out into the box. 6:00pm 74 mins - Arsenal 2 Newcastle 0 Xhaka has hurt himself and wants a physio immediately. He"s in a bit of trouble here, blocking a shot and may have turned his ankle. He"s doing that thing where you grip the grass because it"s so sore. The physio seems to have decided his game is up. Someone has decided to run onto the pitch during the break in play. 5:57pm 71 mins - Arsenal 2 Newcastle 0 Ceballos has been excellent in midfield today, pulling the strings in this half now he"s dropping a little deeper, telling teammates where to pass the thing. 5:54pm 68 mins - Arsenal 2 Newcastle 0 What a ball from Ozil. He sends a perfectly weighted through-ball on the outside of his right foot into space and Aubameyang"s attempted chip to the back post lands on top of the bar. It"s nice to remember that Ozil is actually great. 5:52pm 66 mins - Arsenal 2 Newcastle 0 Ceballos easily reads Saint-Maximin"s intentions and tackles him near the Arsenal box. Both teams intercept the other"s attempts to play out from the back, Arsenal end up passing it out for a throw. 5:50pm 63 mins - Arsenal 2 Newcastle 0 Oh my god what a miss. Clark has just shot wide from six yards, right in front of goal, with only the goalkeeper to beat. It takes a wee deflection but he had to score. 5:46pm 60 mins - Arsenal 2 Newcastle 0 Arteta has definitely got his players out on the front foot for this half but Newcastle have really slowed things down and when they don"t play with intensity the system doesn"t work. Clark is down receiving treatment and doesn"t look happy. Something"s up with his knee. 5:45pm 58 mins - Arsenal 2 Newcastle 0 Bukayo Saka has made more assists across all competitions than any other Arsenal player this season (8). Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has scored 47 goals in the Premier League - since his debut in the competition in February 2018, only Mohamed Salah (49) has netted more in the competition. 5:43pm GOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL!!!!! PEPE SLAMS IT HOME! Arsenal 2 Newcastle 0 Pepe goal CREDIT: AP Follow your club now for first access to all our news, views and analysis Arsenal Absolutely brilliant from Saka and a well taken finish by Pepe! It"s al about the run by Saka, first to underlap Aubameyang then completely bin Lozaro and Bentaleb with the sexiest of nutmegs before providing an unmissable assist. 5:43pm 57 mins - Arsenal 1 Newcastle 0 Arsenal are on it now. Getting players forward, overlapping runs, options for vertical passes. Bellerin breaks behind the defence and cuts a volleyed pass across the area but it"s behind for a corner. Saka turns up on the other wing, beats two players with brilliant skill and PEPE IS THERE! 5:40pm GOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLL!!!! AUBAMEYANG SCORES! Arsenal 1 Newcastle 0 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Arsenal scores a goal to make it 1-0 during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Newcastle United CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES Pepe floats a cross into the area towards the back post, Aubameyang has taken up position inside the six yard box and leaps above everyone else to power a header into the bottom corner. Great finish. 5:40pm 53 mins - Arsenal 0 Newcastle 0 Newcastle have survived that little spell of Arsenal pressure and are back in possession, moving it around. 5:36pm 50 mins - Arsenal 0 Newcastle 0 Arsenal have started this half way better than the first, playing with a bit more conviction in the final third, looking to get the ball in the box earlier than they have been, with better movement ahead of the midfielders too. Arteta"s obviously been at them during the break. This is a great move, Pepe is played in with some clever movement, feints his way past Lascelles and hits a low chipped pass across the area for Nketiah! HE SHOOTS! OFF THE BAR! Great play. 5:34pm 48 mins - Arsenal 0 Newcastle 0 Great pass by Ceballos to put Aubameyang in on goal. Nketiah drops which leaves space for Aubameyang but he doesn"t get his shot right and the lifted pass into him is caught by the goalie easily. 5:31pm KICK OFF 2 Newcastle start the second half. 5:29pm Bad stat for Arteta fans Arsenal have failed to score in the first half in eight of their last 12 Premier League games (five goals in total). 5:22pm Graeme Souness not a fan of Arsenal The surprise to me is Arsenal don"t look very inventive, don"t look very dangerous. They"ve got flair players but it"s not gelling is it? 5:16pm HALF TIME Can"t really work out who the better team is here. Arsenal"s players seem more capable of winning but Newcastle"s system is working almost perfectly and their individual sprinters are causing damage on the counter every time. 5:15pm 45 mins - Arsenal 0 Newcastle 0 Lozardo lifts a free-kick into the area, Leno collects, Arsenal bring it out slowly. Nketiah has started dropping to midfield to get a touch of the ball. 5:15pm 43 mins - Arsenal 0 Newcastle 0 Players in both teams are getting frustrated. Saint-Maximin gets the ball on the left and, as is the law of S-M, takes on three players at once and beats them, gets to the box and has nobody close to put a pass into. This is the paradox of S-M - he"s great but also not, and the system he plays in depends on his individual skill but means there are rarely players in position to help maximise it. 5:10pm 40 mins - Arsenal 0 Newcastle 0 Aubameyang hits one from distance with a weird technique, sort of digging the thing out of the ground but putting his laces straight through the centre of the ball so it floats... but with power. A deflection has the goalie worried but the ball ends up over the top corner. 5:08pm 38 mins - Arsenal 0 Newcastle 0 Saka has been really good so far. Lozaro has mostly been his equal but the young Arsenal player looks assured on the ball and been getting a lot of crosses into the area from wide left. Nketiah gets a shot away as Ozil drills a low pass towards him just inside the area. His first-time effort is saved. Pepe launches a 25 yarder miles wide and high. 5:05pm 35 mins - Arsenal 0 Newcastle 0 Arsenal are growing into the game and starting to find players in space with their passing in the final third. Ceballos is also leading the way, passing then running to receive the return between the lines rather than just stood in formation. 5:03pm 33 mins - Arsenal 0 Newcastle 0 Pete Davidson from SNL... sorry, Miguel Almiron draws a foul from David Luiz, who isn"t happy about it. Newcastle slow things down and try to lure Arsenal to press them so they can counter at speed. Rose gets on the ball wide of the area and hits a low cross towards Joelinton, but the striker watches it rather than attacking. Ozil shows some lovely skill to keep possession and then sends Aubameyang away for a run at goal... and the shot is low at the near post. Saved. Louder boos now for Rose every time he gets the ball. 4:59pm 30 mins - Arsenal 0 Newcastle 0 Danny Rose being given the customary ex-Spurs player "booooo"s from the home crowd, who are also growing impatient with their team"s overly ponderous build up play. They need to speed things up. Pepe in particular looks like he wants someone else to create, which is definitely a confidence issue. 4:57pm 27 mins - Arsenal 0 Newcastle 0 Nketiah can"t get in the game. He"s trying, showing for the ball and asking for passes but he"s basically outnumbered by three centre-backs shielded by four midfielders. 4:57pm 26 mins - Arsenal 0 Newcastle 0 Brilliant from Almiron. Newcastle"s game plan is hardly clever but by golly gosh it works. Saka tries a cross, it hits a body and bounces in the air. He loses the aerial battle, of course, and Almiron teases a pass for bursting pass Xhaka and the rest of Arsenal"s slow midfield... Joelinton drags a a defender out the way to free up space and Almiron runs to the final third. He loses the ball, Newcastle recover immediately and Saint-Maximin over plays again, trying a 360 spin and leaving the ball behind. 4:53pm 23 mins - Arsenal 0 Newcastle 0 Saka still the most likely to make something happen for Arsenal. He links well with Aubameyang (who plays a lovely little improvised back heel roll flick thing as part of a one-two) and bends a shot over the top corner he was aiming for. 4:50pm 20 mins - Arsenal 0 Newcastle 0 arsenal average positions The Newcastle 23 is, in theory, their right back. Newcastle are getting so much more of the ball and so many more opportunities to attack than Arteta will have anticipated. They"re just so fast on the counter and Arsenal aren"t able to pass quickly enough to create chances when they"re in possession, giving Newcastle chances to break. Saint-Maximin wins a free-kick 25 yards out... but Longstaff punts it way over the bar. 4:47pm 17 mins - Arsenal 0 Newcastle 0 Pepe cuts onto his left and hits a cross straight to Dubravka. The crowd got excited about it but there was no need - that"s just handed possession back to Newcastle. Most of Arsenal"s attacks have come down the left with Saka, who is being easily controlled by Newcastle"s defence when he reaches the final third. 4:45pm 15 mins - Arsenal 0 Newcastle 0 Arsenal have been rubbish so far. Newcastle far more threatening going forward, and Saint-Maximum has just cannonball-d his way into the area and almost set up Joelinton for a tap in at the near post. The striker stabs it just wide. 4:44pm 14 mins - Arsenal 0 Newcastle 0 Ozil fouls Almiron while going in with a high boot from a throw-in, giving Newcastle a chance to curl a cross into the box from just wide of the area. It"s headed into the air and Leno punches it behind for a corner. Not the safest of hands there but he"s got it away. Lozaro is the set piece king for Newcastle today and comes to take the kick from the opposite side. He chips to the edge of the area and Longstaff comes in to try a Scholes volley!!! He doesn"t connect well, Ceballos heads it and Leno has to react to turn the shot behind! Close for Newcastle. 4:41pm 11 mins - Arsenal 0 Newcastle 0 Newcastle"s line of engagement is about 30 yards from goal. They"re so deep and Arsenal are being shown wide one v one full-back vs full-back and then having to pass backwards. 4:40pm 10 mins - Arsenal 0 Newcastle 0 Almiron runs with the ball on the break and has Arsenal panicking but nothing comes of the move. Xhaka is booked for a pull... or possibly dissent. He sarcastically congratulates the referee on his decision, which is very wise. Only 80 minutes to go on a yellow card. 4:38pm 8 mins - Arsenal 0 Newcastle 0 Newcastle winning the physical battle easily at the moment, only Arsenal"s centre-backs have an advantage in the air. Saint-Maximin over plays in the area and gives Arsenal a chance to counter but within seconds Newcastle have eight players inside their own box to defend. Aubameyang chips out for a goal kick. Ozil is dropping quite deep to help with build-up. Saint-Maximin has given the ball away again. These are all great facts. 4:35pm 5 mins - Arsenal 0 Newcastle 0 Ceballos has really integrated himself with life in north London and is sporting a top knot to demonstrate this. Can only assume what craft beers he has in his match day bag with him but my guess is that at least two are Neck Oils. Newcastle have caused Arsenal some problems already on the counter. Lozaro wins a corner with some quick feet inside the box and goes across to take it. Mustafi heads clear. 4:32pm 2 mins - Arsenal 0 Newcastle 0 Quite a few empty seats inside the Emirates still, and I wonder if that"s because people didn"t fancy the journey in the wind and rain or fairweather fans (PUN) just only turn up when they"re higher up the table. 4:30pm KICK OFF And they"re off! 4:28pm Here come the players They"re playing that Premier League theme music that gets stuck in your head. 4:23pm How the game will look Newcastle"s low block will be camped on 18 yards for most of the game but Steve Bruce"s side must ensure they don"t get stuck too deep for too long or their wide forwards won"t be able to counter the way needed to make the system work. Arsenal"s shape will probably look something like this below, a 2-3-5 for most of the game, if not a 1-2-2-5. arsenal vs newcastle The danger areas are where Newcastle"s forwards Almiron and Saint-Maximin will attack. 4:14pm Mikel Arteta expecting a "very low block" from Newcastle He says that "[Dani Ceballos] has been training really well and completely deserves his chance" while Guendouzi missing out "is a tactical decision". 4:08pm It is raining I can confirm that Storm Dennis has calmed down in the last wee while in north London but it"s left the place soaking wet. aresnal stadium wet CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES I wonder if that will make the pitch super quick or slightly heavy. These fancy spaceage pitches have great drainage systems, I am led to believe, but if I start pretending I know anything about underground plumbing and how that effects grass then we are all in trouble. 4:04pm How will Arsenal cope with Newcastle"s pace on the counter? Arteta"s lineup is so attacking it"s as though he"s hit right on the d-pad a few times before kick-off has even taken place. The left-back Saka is a winger, David Luiz is a playmaker, Mustafi is... well let"s not go into that... but Bellerin is pretty great tbf. The worry is that with a forward four of players who do not defend from the front, and Dani Ceballos in midfield next to Granit "Slow as all hell" Xhaka, Newcastle could run riot on the counter. Saint-Maximin is great fun to watch and carries Newcastle up the pitch whenever he"s given the ball. If he can just work on his crossing, final pass and shooting he"ll be amazing. Needs a lot of improvement but there"s a magical player in there. 3:48pm Newcastle"s lineup Debut for Danny Rose and a second appearance for Valentino Lazaro today. I"m sure you know who the first guy is but the second is an interesting new signing. An Austrian attacking wing-back (he"s basically a winger), Lozaro joined from Inter Milan on a six month loan deal and came off the bench in the 0-0 draw with Norwich at the start of the month. He"s a direct replacement for Jetro Willems, who is out for the rest of the season with injury. No change in style to put either in - they defend as part of a five and attack as part of a five. 3:35pm Starting lineups Arsenal 1 Bernd Leno 20 Shkodran Mustafi 23 David Luiz 2 Héctor Bellerín 77 Bukayo Saka 19 Nicolas Pépé 10 Mesut Özil 14 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 34 Granit Xhaka 8 Dani Ceballos 30 Eddie Nketiah Substitutes 11 Lucas Torreira 9 Alexandre Lacazette 28 Joseph Willock Newcastle United 1 Martin Dubravka 28 Danny Rose 23 Valentino Lazaro 2 Ciaran Clark 18 Federico Fernández 6 Jamaal Lascelles 24 Miguel Almirón 36 Sean Longstaff 10 Allan Saint-Maximin 42 Nabil Bentaleb 9 Joelinton Substitutes 5 Fabian Schär 11 Matt Ritchie 14 Isaac Hayden Arteta has made a few changes today that I"m not sure many will have expected. Lacazette is benched in favour of Nketiah with a forward midfield three of Aubameyang, Ozil and Pepe... it"s just about the most attacking lineup he could name. If those four don"t work hard off the ball to track back, Newcastle will have a little bit of space to play when counter-attacking. 3:29pm Hello there Welcome to our liveblog for Arsenal vs Newcastle, a match which had rather more meaning 15 years ago back in the good old days before all of the money in the world was plowed into the sport. Do you remember those simpler times? The days of Shearer and Vieira, Robson and Wenger, before YouTube was a thing [record scratch]. Well throws memories out because we"re here today for a rock n rollin" clash of epic proportions. There will be GOALS and DRIBBLES and Alain Saint-Maximan will run with the ball a lot and Arsenal will probably make one costly defensive error that costs them three points at some point and we"ll spend ages dissecting it all. Mikel Arteta has done a lot of good things at Arsenal since taking over and there is clear strategy, as analysed in this excellent piece by Sam Dean and Dan Zeqiri, while Newcastle have played in an obvious, super-defensive counter-attack style all season long. It"s 5-4-1, sit deep and attack at high speed. Arsenal are 4-2-3-1, keep the ball, make a mistake and regret it. Team news will be in soon but expect the teams to line up in those familiar shapes. Arsenal will dominate the ball and if they can ping passes around quickly enough should be able to unlock a team they"re supposed to be better than, something their superior finances would usually dictate. The table rarely lies though and this is where both sides sit: English Premier League Team P W D L GD Pts 1 Liverpool 26 25 1 0 46 76 2 Manchester City 25 16 3 6 36 51 3 Leicester City 26 15 5 6 28 50 4 Chelsea 25 12 5 8 9 41 5 Tottenham Hotspur 26 11 7 8 9 40 6 Sheffield United 26 10 9 7 4 39 7 Wolverhampton Wanderers 26 8 12 6 3 36 8 Everton 26 10 6 10 -4 36 9 Manchester United 25 9 8 8 7 35 10 Arsenal 26 7 13 6 2 34 11 Burnley 26 10 4 12 -9 34 12 Southampton 26 9 4 13 -16 31 13 Newcastle United 26 8 7 11 -16 31 14 Crystal Palace 26 7 9 10 -9 30 15 Brighton and Hove Albion 26 6 9 11 -7 27 16 Bournemouth 26 7 5 14 -14 26 17 Aston Villa 26 7 4 15 -16 25 18 West Ham United 25 6 6 13 -13 24 19 Watford 26 5 9 12 -16 24 20 Norwich City 26 4 6 16 -24 18 It"s nuts to think that these two teams are equals and weirder that Newcastle can go three points clear of them if they engineer a win today. Stay with us for all the action and join me in the comments after the match to discuss the game.