Monday evening’s Premier League football comes from the Emirates Stadium where Arsenal will be looking to tighten their grip on a top four place against out of form Newcastle United.

Arsene Wenger’s men will have welcomed Southampton’s 2-0 win over fifth place Everton on Saturday afternoon – a result which has left the Gunners needing just six points to assure qualification for next season’s Champions League.

The North London side’s 3-0 win at Hull City last Sunday secured back to back league wins for the club for the first time since January, and will have boosted confidence ahead of next month’s FA Cup final where they will again face the Tigers.

Captain Thomas Vermaelen is available for selection following a hamstring problem, though Abou Diaby will miss out after picking up a groin injury after recovering from a serious knee injury while Jack Wilshere, Kieran Gibbs, Theo Walcott, Serge Gnabry and Ryo Miyaichi also remain side-lined.

Top scorer Olivier Giroud is favourite to get the first goal of the game at 4.6 (18/5) with Bet Victor while Aaron Ramsey, who netted for the first time since November last time out is widely available at 7.0 (6/1).

The home win is priced at 1.3 (3/10) with a variety of firms, with Newcastle a 12.0 (11/1) chance. The draw can easily be found at 6.0 (5/1).

The visitors defeat at Swansea City last Saturday was their fifth in succession and ninth from their last twelve games during which time they have scored just seven times, and four of those came in one match – the 4-1 win at Hull City on March 1st.

However, somewhat remarkably they remain in ninth place, and can go a long way to securing a top half finish if they record an unlikely win here.

Moussa Sissoko should return after missing the last three games with a hamstring problem, while Hatem Ben Arfa could also feature after shaking off a dead leg though Papiss Cisse and Luuk de Jong are out with knee and ankle injuries respectively.

Loic Remy, who is reportedly a summer transfer target for Arsenal, is 12.0 (11.1) to open the scoring with Paddy Power ahead of Shola Ameobi, who is a 19.0 (18/1) shot with the same firm.

The Gunners ran out 1-0 winners when the sides met at St James’ Park back in December while last season’s corresponding fixture, which took place exactly one year before that, saw Arsene Wenger’s record a remarkable 7-3 victory.

Coral offer of 4.0 (3/1) for the hosts to score at least four times this time around, while the same firm give odds of 17.0 (16/1) for there to be seven or more goals in total.