Premier League 

NEWCASTLE 0 (Schar sent off 90)
ARSENAL 2 (Elneny 6, Aubameyang 66)

SO the question is: just how much is really still riding on Arsenal’s remaining four Premier League games?

The obvious answer is, not much. The ninth-place position that they currently occupy in the table seems, by all accounts, as high as the Gunners are going to finish this term.

Mikel Arteta, however, insists that the routine 2-0 victory at Newcastle on Sunday afternoon was proof enough that his players still care about their remaining league fixtures – home games against West Brom and Brighton, sandwiched either side of London derbies away at Chelsea and Crystal Palace.

“Our focus is still there,” said the Gunners’ gaffer. “We believe that anything is possible if you’re picking up points and we wanted to put bad results out of the way.”

There is, of course, still the Europa League, too. The chance to play in the semi-final second leg against Villarreal this Thursday would certainly be enough to motivate fringe players like Mohamed Elneny, who opened the scoring at St James’ Park.

Should Arsenal fail to overturn the 2-1 deficit against the Yellow Submarines, though, what then? The north Londoners would be left without European football for the first time since 1995-96.

Arteta has confirmed that plans for the summer are already well underway. Any player not already in the squad of 16 or 17 likely to be carried over from the current campaign are not going to convince him in four games to change his mind.

Yes, it’s fair to say that when Arteta has an idea, he stubbornly sticks to it until exhaustion.

Just look at how many chances Eddie Nketiah was given before being dropped, compared to say Folarin Balogun.

Or how patient Gabriel Martinelli has had to be to get a chance in a struggling side. Don’t forget even Emile Smith Rowe only got a run in the team because of injuries.

For now the shape of the team throughout May rests on what happens Thursday. Away at Newcastle, for example, Arsenal could welcome back Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. It was his mis-hit that fell kindly into the path of Elneny, who volleyed in his first Premier League goal for the Gunners at the 66th attempt after just six minutes.

Arsenal peppered the Newcastle goal, and finally go a second in emphatic style as a flowing one-touch move ended with Martinelli exquisitely finding Aubameyang at the back post to volley in his first goal since March 6.

An assist, albeit born out of luck, and a goal will definitely give the Arsenal captain a much-needed boost ahead of the match against Villarreal. And Arteta will be boosted by the partnership Aubameyang and Martinelli are forging.

Martinelli survived a late challenge from Fabian Schar on Sunday that saw the Newcastle defender receive a straight red card. The question now is whether the Brazilian forward will survive Arteta’s axe and be given another start on Thursday.

Newcastle: Dubravka, Clark (Gayle, 84), Fernandez (Schar, 72), Dummett, Ritchie, S. Longstaff, Shelvey, Murphy, Almiron (Joelinton, 73), Saint-Maximin, Wilson
Substitutes not used: Gillespie, Lewis, Anderson, M Longstaff, Hendrick, Krafth

Arsenal: Ryan, Bellerin, Gabriel, Luiz (Chambers, 53), Elneny, Xhaka, Ceballos, Odegaard (Partey, 85), Willian, Martinelli, Aubameyang (Pepe, 78)
Substitutes not used: Leno, Soares, Mari, Saka, Smith Rowe, Nketiah