Two challengers for the crown aim to boost their hopes of Premier League title glory on Tuesday night, as Arsenal take on Newcastle United at the Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners ended 2022 with a pulsating 4-2 success over Brighton & Hove Albion, while Eddie Howe's side lost a bit of ground on the top two after being held to a goalless draw by Leeds Unitd.
Eddie Nketiah, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Odegaard were all on target at the Amex fortress against Brighton, who responded in kind through Kaoru Mitoma and Evan Ferguson in a nail-biting finale, where Mitoma had another goal ruled out for a marginal offside.
Arteta admitted that his side did little to stem the flow of Brighton's eye-catching response, but a 14th top-flight win of the season - coupled with Manchester City dropping points against Everton - allowed the Gunners to enjoy their midnight celebrations seven points clear at the top of the table.
With the champions not in action until Thursday's battle with Chelsea, Arsenal - who are the only Premier League team with a 100% home record still intact - could remarkably extend their lead into double figures on Tuesday night, thereby silencing a few more doubters of their title credentials.
While an astounding 10-game winning run on home soil is nothing to be scoffed at, only Nottingham Forest have failed to score against Arsenal at the Emirates during that hot streak, so a record-equalling 29th clean sheet against Newcastle is far from a guarantee.
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