Arsenal and a top-four tilt that could be derailed by the thick end of £100m

The good news for Arsenal before Monday’s match against Newcastle at St James’ Park is that the battle for fourth place – and the lucrative Big Cup spot that comes with it – is in their own hands. Of course, this being Arsenal, it could be argued that this also constitutes bad news, as the only team more likely to mess up this golden opportunity to return to European football’s top table currently sit two points ahead of them in that fourth place, having played one game more.

Of course it could also be argued that if you absolutely need to beat a particular team to leapfrog your most hated rivals and go fourth prior to the final day of the season, you’d probably handpick opposition who have lost all of their past eight games against you by an aggregate score of 18-1, as Newcastle have. However, all but one of those drubbings were dished out to a version of Newcastle that no longer exists – an incarnation that was owned by a tyrant fabled for cynically using the club and its ground to promote the personal fiefdom from which he generated his billions.

But with Mike Ashley gone and their Premier League safety secured, Newcastle’s players have nothing much to play for tonight … apart from the love of 50,000 newly enthused fans. While Arsenal won the corresponding fixture at the Emirates with a minimum of fuss, that came only a few weeks before Eddie Howe was given the thick end of £100m to help buy his way out of trouble in January.

While swathes of Newcastle fans have reacted to the negativity that greeted their takeover by Saudi sportswashers by creating a “them against us” culture around St James’ Park, Mikel Arteta has denied claims he has fostered a similar bunker mentality in Arsenal’s dressing room ahead of their