Fresh off respective victories in the last 16 of the EFL Cup, Newcastle United and Arsenal return to Premier League duty with a clash at St James' Park on Saturday lunchtime.
The Magpies were convincing 2-0 winners over a much-changed Chelsea team on Wednesday evening, while the Gunners put three unanswered goals past Preston North End to ease into the quarter-finals.
As far as Premier League matters go, Eddie Howe's troops were edged out by the Blues 2-1 last weekend before exacting revenge in the cup, a couple of hours before Arsenal settled for a point at home to title rivals Liverpool.
Here, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at the head-to-head record and previous meetings between the two sides.
Head-to-head record
Previous meetings: 193
Newcastle wins: 69
Draws: 39
Arsenal wins: 85
Over 130 years have passed since Newcastle and Arsenal butted heads for the first time - an 1893 Division Two clash that ended 2-2 - and there have now been 193 competitive battles between the Gunners and the Magpies in all tournaments.
The North London giants hold the bragging rights when it comes to overall victories with 85, although Newcastle are not all that far behind with 69 of their own, and another 39 battles have seen the two sides shake hands on a point apiece.
Both teams got one over the other during the 2023-24 campaign, starting with the Magpies prevailing 1-0 at St James' Park thanks to an Anthony Gordon goal labelled an "embarrassment" and "a disgrace" by an apoplectic Mikel Arteta.
Despite VAR reviews for an offside, a foul and the ball possibly going out of play, Newcastle's winner was given the green light by Stockley Park, although Arsenal avenged what they felt was an unjust defeat by thrashing Howe's men 4-1 at the Emirates in February 2024.
That was just a second win in five for Arsenal against their neighbours from the north, though, as they previously went three games without a goal in this fixture, also losing 2-0 at the back-end of the 2021-22 season and being held to a 0-0 draw in January 2023.
However, Arsenal have built up a splendid sequence of home results against Newcastle, going unbeaten in their last 13 games versus the Magpies at the Emirates - winning 12 of them - since losing 1-0 in November 2010 courtesy of an Andy Carroll header.
The two sides have also crossed paths in three FA Cup finals, the most recent of which in 1998 ended in a 2-0 win for Arsenal, but Newcastle prevailed 1-0 in the 1952 edition after a controversial 2-1 victory in 1932, where their equaliser was awarded despite the ball appearing to go out of play. Arteta's men ironically experienced deja vu in that sense in 2023.
The highest individual scorer in this fixture donned the kits of both Arsenal and Newcastle, as Malcolm Macdonald scored six goals in Gunners-Magpies contests, although all of them came for Newcastle against Arsenal.
Previous meetings
Feb 24, 2024: Arsenal 4-1 Newcastle (Premier League)
Nov 04, 2023: Newcastle 1-0 Arsenal (Premier League)
May 07, 2023: Newcastle 0-2 Arsenal (Premier League)
Jan 03, 2023: Arsenal 0-0 Newcastle (Premier League)
May 16, 2022: Newcastle 2-0 Arsenal (Premier League)
Nov 27, 2021: Arsenal 2-0 Newcastle (Premier League)
May 02, 2021: Newcastle 0-2 Arsenal (Premier League)
Jan 18, 2021: Arsenal 3-0 Newcastle (Premier League)
Jan 09, 2021: Arsenal 2-0 Newcastle (FA Cup Third Round)
Feb 16, 2020: Arsenal 4-0 Newcastle (Premier League)
Aug 11, 2019: Newcastle 0-1 Arsenal (Premier League)
Apr 01, 2019: Arsenal 2-0 Newcastle (Premier League)
Sep 15, 2018: Newcastle 1-2 Arsenal (Premier League)
Apr 15, 2018: Newcastle 2-1 Arsenal (Premier League)
Dec 16, 2017: Arsenal 1-0 Newcastle (Premier League)
Jan 02, 2016: Arsenal 1-0 Newcastle (Premier League)
Aug 29, 2015: Newcastle 0-1 Arsenal (Premier League)
Mar 21, 2015: Newcastle 1-2 Arsenal (Premier League)
Dec 13, 2014: Arsenal 4-1 Newcastle (Premier League)
Apr 28, 2014: Arsenal 3-0 Newcastle (Premier League)
Last 10 Premier League meetings
Feb 24, 2024: Arsenal 4-1 Newcastle (Premier League)
Nov 04, 2023: Newcastle 1-0 Arsenal (Premier League)
May 07, 2023: Newcastle 0-2 Arsenal (Premier League)
Jan 03, 2023: Arsenal 0-0 Newcastle (Premier League)
May 16, 2022: Newcastle 2-0 Arsenal (Premier League)
Nov 27, 2021: Arsenal 2-0 Newcastle (Premier League)
May 02, 2021: Newcastle 0-2 Arsenal (Premier League)
Jan 18, 2021: Arsenal 3-0 Newcastle (Premier League)
Feb 16, 2020: Arsenal 4-0 Newcastle (Premier League)
Aug 11, 2019: Newcastle 0-1 Arsenal (Premier League)
