Tottenham Hotspur moved into third place in the Premier League, a point in front of north London rivals Arsenal, following a goalless draw away to Sunderland on Saturday.
The closest either side came to a goal was in the 73rd minute when Spurs midfielder Rafael van der Vaart had a shot cleared off the line.
But the Gunners can regain third place against Manchester City on Sunday.
Only the top three teams in the table at the end of the season qualify automatically for the Champions League.
Frustrated Tottenham captain Scott Parker told Sky Sports: "It was a quite a slow game, we dominated possession in both halves. Sunderland set up to get men behind the ball.
"We were a bit surprised at how they set up. We expected them to come at us a bit more but we will take a draw and move on."
In Saturday's other Premier League matches, Chelsea will look to go above Newcastle into fifth place and move to within three points of Spurs by beating relegation-threatened Wigan at Stamford Bridge.
"It gets to that point of the season, where we have to concentrate on what we do," said Parker of the increasingly tight race for Champions League football.
"We need to win as many as we can and keep picking up points," the England midfielder added.
"At the end of the day, we just have to worry about ourselves. We know how good this league is. Newcastle have done fantastically but it's all to play for and it's in our hands."
Wolves, already six points adrift at the foot of the table, travel to Stoke while Blackburn, also in the bottom three, are away to West Bromwich Albion.
Sunday could witness a decisive stage of the Premier League title race, with second-placed City in danger of falling eight points behind leaders Manchester United if they lose at Arsenal and the champions beat QPR.
Source: AFP
