Assumptions can be inaccurate, unfair and sometimes downright dangerous. Eddie Howe and Newcastle have had their fair share of often lazy theories – about the manager’s future and the limits of the club’s potential – but they travel to the Emirates Stadium on Sunday having trampled all over assorted hypotheses.
Should Newcastle win, Arsenal will have been beaten an unprecedented four times by one team in a single season and St James’ Park executives should feel sufficiently confident to start sprucing the stadium up for Champions League combat in early autumn.
