LONDON — Arsenal will host Newcastle United at Emirates Stadium in London on Saturday at 5:30 pm local time (16:30 GMT). The fixture comes with Arsenal level on points with Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table, as manager Mikel Arteta pursues his first league title with the club.

Arsenal and Manchester City are tied on 70 points and on goal difference at +37, with City ahead on goals scored, 66 to 63. Pep Guardiola's side were nine points behind Arsenal after drawing with West Ham on March 14 and have since won three consecutive Premier League matches, including a 1-0 victory at Burnley on Wednesday night.

Arsenal have won only one of their last six matches in all competitions. They lost consecutive Premier League fixtures against Manchester City and Bournemouth, were eliminated from the FA Cup by Southampton, lost the League Cup final to Manchester City, and drew 0-0 with Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League, progressing to the last four with a 1-0 first-leg win.

Newcastle United arrive in 14th position, having lost their last four matches in all competitions and won only one of their last seven, a 1-0 victory at Chelsea. City are also in action this weekend, playing an FA Cup semifinal against Southampton.

Bukayo Saka has not featured for Arsenal since the League Cup final defeat by Manchester City a month ago due to an Achilles problem. Jurrien Timber has a groin problem and is unlikely to play, while Mikel Merino is out for the season with a fractured foot. Riccardo Calafiori could return after missing three games with a knock. For Newcastle, Anthony Gordon is a doubt after missing a recent defeat by Bournemouth with a hip issue, while Tino Livramento is a doubt with a thigh injury and Fabian Schar is also doubtful.

The match will be the 199th meeting between the clubs, with Arsenal having won 87 and Newcastle 72 of the previous encounters. The first meeting came in 1893 in Division Two, ending 2-2 at Arsenal's home, with Newcastle winning the return fixture 6-0. Newcastle's last Premier League win at Emirates Stadium came in November 2010, a 1-0 result featuring a goal by Andy Carroll and a 90th-minute red card for Laurent Koscielny. Since then, Arsenal have won 12 of 13 league matches at the ground, scoring 34 goals to Newcastle's six. Newcastle have scored only two goals in their last 11 league visits to the stadium.

In the September meeting this season, Arsenal won 2-1 at Newcastle, with Nick Woltemade scoring in the 34th minute, Mikel Merino equalising in the 84th and Gabriel Magalhaes scoring an injury-time winner. In the corresponding fixture last season, Arsenal beat Newcastle 1-0 at Emirates Stadium on May 15, with Declan Rice scoring in the 55th minute. Newcastle eliminated Arsenal from last season's English League Cup semifinal with a 4-0 aggregate win. Arsenal next host Fulham on May 2, while Manchester City travel to Everton on May 4.