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Preview: Spurs face midweek trip to Newcastle

Preview: Spurs face midweek trip to Newcastle

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Off the back of their debacle against Fulham on Saturday night, a 500-mile round trip to Newcastle is probably the last thing Spurs need right now, but in the Premier League, life comes at you fast.

By Ian King

Spurs’ Saturday night loss to Fulham moved them into “Crisis Club” territory

With Liverpool winning at the weekend, Tottenham Hotspur are back as the Premier League’s crisis club du jour. Conceding two goals in the first six minutes against Fulham on Saturday night officially moved Thomas Frank into “embattled” territory. 

Without a home league win since the opening weekend of the season, the sound of knives being sharpened for the new-ish head coach is becoming increasingly loud across London N17. 

Newcastle, meanwhile, remain a model of inconsistency, having bounced back from two pretty poor defeats in London against West Ham and Brentford by beating Manchester City and Everton, though their 2-1 loss at Marseille in the Europa League was a reminder that they’re not the finished article yet. 

Four of their five League wins so far this season have been at home, with the only teams to have beaten them at St James Park so far having been Arsenal and pre-slump Liverpool.

There are few good omens for Spurs to take from having to travel to Tyneside

Newcastle have won their last four consecutive meetings with Spurs, with the last one of those coming only just over a month ago in the Carabao Cup. 

Peering back into the history books doesn’t offer many crumbs of comfort for Spurs, either. In May 2016, Newcastle beat them 5-1. In April 2023, Newcastle beat them 6-1. And in December 1998, Newcastle beat them 7-1.

The last H2H meeting

The last of those results wasn’t even the first time that Newcastle had put seven goals past Spurs at St James’ Park, either. In September 1951, just four months after Spurs had been crowned the champions of England for the first time, Newcastle beat them 7-2.

Malick Thiaw improved his career goals tally by 50% against Everton on Sunday

Defender Malick Thiaw popped up with a goal in the first minute of Newcastle’s trip to Everton on Saturday, and then grabbed another in the second half. This brace increased his career goals tally by 50%, having previously scored four times in almost 150 games for his two previous clubs, Milan and Schalke. A repeat of that goalscoring feat is unlikely, but Thiaw has been getting decent ratings for his defensive performances for Newcastle too.

The main focus of Spurs fans’ ire on Saturday night was goalkeeper Gugliemo Vicario after he got himself in a pickle near the corner flag and ended up gifting Fulham their second goal in the opening six minutes of the match. 

Having conceded five the previous Wednesday to PSG in the Champions League and four to Arsenal in the Premier League the Sunday before, it was a bad seven days for the goalkeeper, and he needs a big performance to set himself back on track.

Nick Pope likely to be missing again for Newcastle, while Cristian Romero returns for Spurs

Newcastle have their fair share of injuries at the moment, and will be missing Kieran Trippier (hamstring), Yoane Wissa (knee), Harrison Ashby (thigh) and Will Osula (ankle). They’re also likely to be missing Nick Pope, who has damaged his groin, missed the Everton match (the club issued a statement confirming that this was the reason for his absence and not the mistakes he made in their Europa League game at Marseille last week), and is unlikely to be available for this one too. Aaron Ramsdale deputised then, and will likely do so again. Sven Botman has a back injury, and faces a fitness test. 

Spurs are still missing James Maddison (ACL), Radu Dragusin (fitness), Kota Takai (thigh), Yves Bissouma (ankle), Dejan Kulusevski (knee) and Dominic Solanke (ankle), though Cristian Romero will return after missing the Fulham match suspended as a result of picking up five yellow cards. Expect changes from the team that lost to Fulham on Saturday, though what exact form that takes will be unclear until the teams are announced an hour or so before kick-off.

Newcastle may have been blowing hot & cold this season, but Spurs are heading for another winter of discontent

If anything, with a bright start completely unravelling as autumn turns to winter, Spurs’ Premier League season is starting to resemble last season, and what’s most alarming about that for their fans is that they do not have the buffer of there being three teams occupying the relegation places who are falling off the bottom of the division this time around, as there were last season. 

As such, the club are in a Catch-22 situation. Sacking the head coach after just a few months only has any chance of working if there’s a clear plan who would replace them, and… well… Do you think they’ve got one for that sort of eventuality? It seems highly unlikely, but don’t think for a second that this would stop them. 

Newcastle have blown hot and cold all season, and that’s a theme that has continued over the last seven days, with their wins against Manchester City and Everton being deeply impressive, but a defeat in Marseille from a winning position interrupting them. When they’re good – Manchester City at home – they’re very, very good, but when they’re bad – West Ham away – they’re horrid.

But for all that, Newcastle’s home form has been reasonably good this season, and Spurs are in that skittish place in which they so often seem to find themselves these days, and it’s very difficult to see past a comfortable Newcastle win. 3-0 to the Toon, and the sound of those knives sharpening for Thomas Frank to start to become deafening.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from the Premier League with FotMob this season – featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.

Preview: Spurs face midweek trip to Newcastle

Off the back of their debacle against Fulham on Saturday night, a 500-mile round trip to Newcastle is probably the last thing Spurs need right now, but in the Premier League, life comes at you fast.

By Ian King

Spurs’ Saturday night loss to Fulham moved them into “Crisis Club” territory

With Liverpool winning at the weekend, Tottenham Hotspur are back as the Premier League’s crisis club du jour. Conceding two goals in the first six minutes against Fulham on Saturday night officially moved Thomas Frank into “embattled” territory. 

Without a home league win since the opening weekend of the season, the sound of knives being sharpened for the new-ish head coach is becoming increasingly loud across London N17. 

Newcastle, meanwhile, remain a model of inconsistency, having bounced back from two pretty poor defeats in London against West Ham and Brentford by beating Manchester City and Everton, though their 2-1 loss at Marseille in the Europa League was a reminder that they’re not the finished article yet. 

Four of their five League wins so far this season have been at home, with the only teams to have beaten them at St James Park so far having been Arsenal and pre-slump Liverpool.

There are few good omens for Spurs to take from having to travel to Tyneside

Newcastle have won their last four consecutive meetings with Spurs, with the last one of those coming only just over a month ago in the Carabao Cup. 

Peering back into the history books doesn’t offer many crumbs of comfort for Spurs, either. In May 2016, Newcastle beat them 5-1. In April 2023, Newcastle beat them 6-1. And in December 1998, Newcastle beat them 7-1.

The last H2H meeting

The last of those results wasn’t even the first time that Newcastle had put seven goals past Spurs at St James’ Park, either. In September 1951, just four months after Spurs had been crowned the champions of England for the first time, Newcastle beat them 7-2.

Malick Thiaw improved his career goals tally by 50% against Everton on Sunday

Defender Malick Thiaw popped up with a goal in the first minute of Newcastle’s trip to Everton on Saturday, and then grabbed another in the second half. This brace increased his career goals tally by 50%, having previously scored four times in almost 150 games for his two previous clubs, Milan and Schalke. A repeat of that goalscoring feat is unlikely, but Thiaw has been getting decent ratings for his defensive performances for Newcastle too.

The main focus of Spurs fans’ ire on Saturday night was goalkeeper Gugliemo Vicario after he got himself in a pickle near the corner flag and ended up gifting Fulham their second goal in the opening six minutes of the match. 

Having conceded five the previous Wednesday to PSG in the Champions League and four to Arsenal in the Premier League the Sunday before, it was a bad seven days for the goalkeeper, and he needs a big performance to set himself back on track.

Nick Pope likely to be missing again for Newcastle, while Cristian Romero returns for Spurs

Newcastle have their fair share of injuries at the moment, and will be missing Kieran Trippier (hamstring), Yoane Wissa (knee), Harrison Ashby (thigh) and Will Osula (ankle). They’re also likely to be missing Nick Pope, who has damaged his groin, missed the Everton match (the club issued a statement confirming that this was the reason for his absence and not the mistakes he made in their Europa League game at Marseille last week), and is unlikely to be available for this one too. Aaron Ramsdale deputised then, and will likely do so again. Sven Botman has a back injury, and faces a fitness test. 

Spurs are still missing James Maddison (ACL), Radu Dragusin (fitness), Kota Takai (thigh), Yves Bissouma (ankle), Dejan Kulusevski (knee) and Dominic Solanke (ankle), though Cristian Romero will return after missing the Fulham match suspended as a result of picking up five yellow cards. Expect changes from the team that lost to Fulham on Saturday, though what exact form that takes will be unclear until the teams are announced an hour or so before kick-off.

Newcastle may have been blowing hot & cold this season, but Spurs are heading for another winter of discontent

If anything, with a bright start completely unravelling as autumn turns to winter, Spurs’ Premier League season is starting to resemble last season, and what’s most alarming about that for their fans is that they do not have the buffer of there being three teams occupying the relegation places who are falling off the bottom of the division this time around, as there were last season. 

As such, the club are in a Catch-22 situation. Sacking the head coach after just a few months only has any chance of working if there’s a clear plan who would replace them, and… well… Do you think they’ve got one for that sort of eventuality? It seems highly unlikely, but don’t think for a second that this would stop them. 

Newcastle have blown hot and cold all season, and that’s a theme that has continued over the last seven days, with their wins against Manchester City and Everton being deeply impressive, but a defeat in Marseille from a winning position interrupting them. When they’re good – Manchester City at home – they’re very, very good, but when they’re bad – West Ham away – they’re horrid.

But for all that, Newcastle’s home form has been reasonably good this season, and Spurs are in that skittish place in which they so often seem to find themselves these days, and it’s very difficult to see past a comfortable Newcastle win. 3-0 to the Toon, and the sound of those knives sharpening for Thomas Frank to start to become deafening.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from the Premier League with FotMob this season – featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.