Tottenham Hotspur welcome Newcastle United to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the second of a Super Sunday double-header.
Victory by two goals or more would see Tottenham climb to fourth until Monday evening at minimum, whereas Newcastle can regain 14th with a win after Brentford thrashed Chelsea on Saturday afternoon.
Team News
Ben Davies is available for Tottenham after recovering from a “little problem” which forced him to withdraw from Wales’ squad during the international break.
Japhet Tanganga (knee), Oliver Skipp (groin) and Ryan Sessegnon (muscle) remain ruled out.
Newcastle could welcome Jonjo Shelvey back into contention after he missed their last two matches through illness.
Martin Dubravka (illness), Federico Fernandez (muscle), Fabian Schar (adductor) and Allan Saint-Maximin (calf) are also expected to be available for selection.
Kieran Trippier (foot), Jamal Lewis (groin), Isaac Hayden (knee) and Callum Wilson (calf) remain absent.
Stat Attack
- Tottenham have lost just one of their last nine meetings against Newcastle (W6, D2, L1).
- Newcastle are unbeaten in three of their last five visits to Tottenham (W2, D1, L2).
- Harry Kane has scored three goals in his last two appearances for Tottenham against Newcastle.
- Two of Tottenham’s three headed league goals this season have been scored by South American players – Brazil’s Lucas Moura and Colombia’s Davinson Sanchez.
- Jacob Murphy is the only Newcastle player to have hit the woodwork more than once this season in the Premier League, having found the goalframe on three separate occasions.
Prediction
With a solid run-in but one less match in hand than Arsenal in the top-four race, Tottenham know that they have to continue winning and hope other teams slip up if they’re to stand any chance of finishing fourth and qualifying for the Champions League.
Antonio Conte though should be pleased with how his team performed in their win against West Ham last time out, especially in terms of their pressing and clinical counter-attacks which proved the difference in a tough physical battle against the Hammers.
Newcastle meanwhile will be desperate to produce a reaction after enduring two difficult late away defeats against Chelsea and Everton, although the Magpies were pretty wasteful of their chances especially at Everton where they dominated but morale and quality are still improving.
On that note, I am expecting a competitive clash because Newcastle won’t make life easy for Tottenham but if Spurs pick up where they left off from against West Ham, I just can’t see past a home win no matter how well Newcastle play defensively.
Prediction: Tottenham 2-1 Newcastle
Result: Tottenham 5-1 Newcastle
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