Tim Krul of Newcastle United reacts after Theo Walcott of Arsenal scores their fourth goal during the Barclays Premier League match between Arsenal and Newcastle United at the Emirates StadiumTim Krul of Newcastle United reacts after Theo Walcott of Arsenal scores their fourth goal during the Barclays Premier League match between Arsenal and Newcastle United at the Emirates Stadium
Tim Krul of Newcastle United reacts after Theo Walcott of Arsenal scores their fourth goal during the Barclays Premier League match between Arsenal and Newcastle United at the Emirates Stadium

Arsenal 7-3 Newcastle United: What happened to Gael Bigirimana, Demba Ba and other Magpie stars 10 years on?

Newcastle take on Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium tonight in what will be a full-blooded affair - but it certainly won’t be the first.

It's set to be a full-blooded affair when Newcastle United square up against Arsenal later tonight as the Premier League's first and third-place clubs meet at the Emirates Stadium.

It certainly won't be the first time the two sides have put on a great show with many fixtures between the Gunners and the Magpies proving to be ones for the history books.

One such match took place almost exactly a decade ago at the stadium that hosts the sides tonight.

Back on December 29 in 2012, the two sides put on the highest-scoring match of that Premier League season as Arsenal triumphed 7-3.

Theo Walcott scored a hat-trick for the London side to lead them to victory in a match when Newcastle pulled the score level three times.

It sat at 3-3 going into the final 20 minutes, with Demba Ba bagging a brace and Sylvain Marveaux tapping in for Newcastle. At that point, it was Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Lukas Podolski who joined Walcott on the Arsenal scoresheet.

Walcott then grabbed a fourth in the 73rd minute, before a final flurry of Gunners goals in the 87th and 91st minute from Olivier Giroud and Walcott again.

The match, coming just before the January transfer market, was shrouded by transfer drama with the in-form Walcott out of contract the following summer and Magpies man Demba Ba also rumoured to be on his way out of the club.

Speaking after the match Newcastle boss Alan Pardew said: "We have given away soft goals and the match has got away from us. It was a heavy pitch at Old Trafford and we looked leggy after our exertions there.

"We did not have the energy to cope with them in the last 20 minutes. We put the ball at risk too often and some of the goals we gave away were not good enough for us.

"There was a clear difference between the two sides in the last part of the match. We got overrun, but we have to defend as a team. I don't want to put all the focus on the defence and the back four."

Looking back at who played for Newcastle United in 2012, here's what they are up to now.

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