Newcastle United can boast a 3-1 victory over Arsenal in head to head terms this season - with an aggregate score of 5-1 to the Magpies. The Gunners, who only recorded their first win of the campaign over Newcastle at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, did so by finally scoring against them after a previous 51 unsuccessful shots against Nick Pope and Martin Dubravka in recent encounters.
Arsenal, however, will likely care little about what has come before after guaranteeing a second-place finish, for the third straight season, while ensuring they will finish above Newcastle come the end of the season next weekend. As such, Eddie Howe and his players trudged off the pitch in north London as Mikel Arteta delivered a speech to the home support discussing their achievements this term.
"There's a lot of incredible things this club is doing, the team is doing, the players are doing, the way we are competing and the consistency that we are showing. If we are not able to see that, that's a really, really dangerous thing to do," the Spaniard said after the game.
"I know they don't want us there, where we are now, knocking on the door every year and make sure that we can see clarity. We stay very disciplined and very clear and ambitious with what we want to do in the summer."
Newcastle and Arsenal have recently developed a rivalry of sorts as they both seek to reach the top. The latter may have won that battle this time around but it remains to be seen whether the north London outfit can win the war going forward.
Had Newcastle emerged victorious over the weekend, they likely would have went on to finish above Arsenal - despite a campaign that threatened to become derailed in early December and comes after three consecutive transfer windows of limited spending. The work Howe and his staff have overseen really has been remarkable.
Newcastle have already kept pace with Manchester City, Aston Villa and Chelsea this term, and while they are poised to finish miles short of Premier League champions Liverpool this time around, you suspect the black and whites may push Arsenal - and potentially the Reds - close next term.
"Halfway through the season we weren't in a great position," Howe admitted after Sunday's loss. "We worked hard to get here. I had the feeling it would go right to the end. It's an incredibly tight race. We have one more game to execute what we need."
[For now, the attention turns to Everton and ensuring United book their spot in next season's Champions League](https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/newcastle-uniteds-job-simple-after-31670708). After that arrives a summer that promises excitement before a potential title tilt next year.
That is the outlook of captain Bruno Guimaraes, who again reiterated his desire to bring England's biggest prize to Tyneside [this week during an interview with Sky Sports.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbFrffzfCus)
"If you look at the games we lost at home, we'd be fighting for the top. I really believe we can win the Premier League one day."
That particular success may not arrive next term but the second half of this campaign - and all four clashes against Arsenal - has showcased Newcastle's ability to keep pace with the top flight's big guns. Bruno will not be alone in thinking the St James' Park outfit can indeed achieve this feat.
Arsenal will finish as the best of the rest again - but Arteta's side will have a new and improved rival chasing them down again next season.