Skip to main content
Notícias

Preview: Newcastle meet Spurs in the Carabao Cup

Preview: Newcastle meet Spurs in the Carabao Cup

Partilhar

Both Newcastle and Spurs will have one eye on winning the Carabao Cup this season, so it’s bad news for one of them that they’ll be going out in the last sixteen. 

By Ian King

Neither Spurs or Newcastle have built much momentum this season

Spurs’ 3-0 win at Everton at the weekend was a curate’s egg of a performance, a comfortable win in which they maximised their set-piece opportunities without looking that impressive. The performance at least counterbalanced their poor performance at home to Aston Villa a week earlier. 

Newcastle, meanwhile, stuttered their way to a 2-1 win against Fulham at the weekend. They’ve been masters of inconsistency so far this season, having failed to win, lose or draw twice in a row in their opening nine League matches. The goalscoring issues with which they started the season have largely evaporated, but overall performances have remained mixed.

Newcastle have had a hold over Spurs in recent years

Newcastle have won five out of the club’s last six meetings, including a 6-1 win in April 2023 and a 4-0 win almost exactly a year later.

The two clubs met in the semi-finals of this competition in 1976, with Spurs winning the first leg 1-0 but Newcastle winning the return 3-1 to book a place at Wembley, where they lost to Manchester City. Spurs have won both of the clubs’ meetings in this competition since then, winning 2-1 in 2008 and 4-0 in 2014.

The Carabao Cup is an opportunity for players who haven’t yet caught light to prove themselves

The last few weeks at Newcastle have been all about Nick Woltemade, but he’s more likely than not to be rested for this one, so we have to turn our attention elsewhere. One player who may feature who could do with a kick-start is Anthony Elanga, who cost them £55 million during the summer from Nottingham Forest but has registered neither a goal nor an assist from 13 appearances for them so far. 

Spurs will also be shuffling their pack, and this may mean a start for Wilson Odobert on the right wing. Odobert has made 11 appearances for Spurs this season and hasn’t registered a goal or an assist either. The Carabao Cup is a perfect opportunity for players who have been on the fringes of a regular first-team place to demonstrate their value. Odobert is another player with a point to prove to his manager.

Schedule pressures and injury lists mean that there will be changes to both teams

Valentino Livramento, Lewis Hall, Yoane Wissa and Harrison Ashby will all be missing for Newcastle through injury, while Sven Botman is also a doubt. Both teams will probably swap out their goalkeepers, which will mean a rare sighting of the lesser-spotted Aaron Ramsdale for Newcastle, while Gugliemo Vicario – who’s earned a rest, given his recent performances for Spurs – will likely be replaced by Antonin Kinsky.

Cristian Romero, Ben Davies, Destiny Udogie, Yves Bissouma, James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski, Dominic Solanke, Kota Takai and Radu Dragusin all remain injured for Spurs, which isn’t that far off a full team’s worth of players. For Mathys Tel, Wilson Odobert, Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray, there is an opportunity to shine.

Home advantage may be the key difference between two teams who’ve not found much consistency so far this season

Both teams go into this match having ended lengthy trophy droughts in 2025. Newcastle are the holders of this competition, while Spurs won the Europa League. Both of these wins were something of a surprise, and winning a trophy of some sort can often be a kick-start towards more sustained success, but neither have particularly looked like doing so yet this season.

Newcastle beat Fulham at the weekend but didn’t tear up any trees in doing so, and that’s been the story of their season so far, while Spurs’ have been getting the results without the performances quite being at the level which makes you believe that they’re not going to glitch out and perform in the way that they did against Aston Villa again at some point in the relatively near future. 

When two teams who’ve both been somewhat inconsistent are meeting in a match for which both are expected to make changes, picking a winner feels particularly fiendish. But Newcastle have an excellent recent record in this fixture and it’s a long journey north for Spurs, and while winning a domestic trophy would be a perfect aperitif after their Europa League win, it does feel as though this trip might be a step too far. I’ll go for Newcastle to get home 2-1, but given the way these two teams have performed so far this season, anything could happen. 

(Cover image from IMAGO)

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

Preview: Newcastle meet Spurs in the Carabao Cup

Both Newcastle and Spurs will have one eye on winning the Carabao Cup this season, so it’s bad news for one of them that they’ll be going out in the last sixteen. 

By Ian King

Neither Spurs or Newcastle have built much momentum this season

Spurs’ 3-0 win at Everton at the weekend was a curate’s egg of a performance, a comfortable win in which they maximised their set-piece opportunities without looking that impressive. The performance at least counterbalanced their poor performance at home to Aston Villa a week earlier. 

Newcastle, meanwhile, stuttered their way to a 2-1 win against Fulham at the weekend. They’ve been masters of inconsistency so far this season, having failed to win, lose or draw twice in a row in their opening nine League matches. The goalscoring issues with which they started the season have largely evaporated, but overall performances have remained mixed.

Newcastle have had a hold over Spurs in recent years

Newcastle have won five out of the club’s last six meetings, including a 6-1 win in April 2023 and a 4-0 win almost exactly a year later.

The two clubs met in the semi-finals of this competition in 1976, with Spurs winning the first leg 1-0 but Newcastle winning the return 3-1 to book a place at Wembley, where they lost to Manchester City. Spurs have won both of the clubs’ meetings in this competition since then, winning 2-1 in 2008 and 4-0 in 2014.

The Carabao Cup is an opportunity for players who haven’t yet caught light to prove themselves

The last few weeks at Newcastle have been all about Nick Woltemade, but he’s more likely than not to be rested for this one, so we have to turn our attention elsewhere. One player who may feature who could do with a kick-start is Anthony Elanga, who cost them £55 million during the summer from Nottingham Forest but has registered neither a goal nor an assist from 13 appearances for them so far. 

Spurs will also be shuffling their pack, and this may mean a start for Wilson Odobert on the right wing. Odobert has made 11 appearances for Spurs this season and hasn’t registered a goal or an assist either. The Carabao Cup is a perfect opportunity for players who have been on the fringes of a regular first-team place to demonstrate their value. Odobert is another player with a point to prove to his manager.

Schedule pressures and injury lists mean that there will be changes to both teams

Valentino Livramento, Lewis Hall, Yoane Wissa and Harrison Ashby will all be missing for Newcastle through injury, while Sven Botman is also a doubt. Both teams will probably swap out their goalkeepers, which will mean a rare sighting of the lesser-spotted Aaron Ramsdale for Newcastle, while Gugliemo Vicario – who’s earned a rest, given his recent performances for Spurs – will likely be replaced by Antonin Kinsky.

Cristian Romero, Ben Davies, Destiny Udogie, Yves Bissouma, James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski, Dominic Solanke, Kota Takai and Radu Dragusin all remain injured for Spurs, which isn’t that far off a full team’s worth of players. For Mathys Tel, Wilson Odobert, Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray, there is an opportunity to shine.

Home advantage may be the key difference between two teams who’ve not found much consistency so far this season

Both teams go into this match having ended lengthy trophy droughts in 2025. Newcastle are the holders of this competition, while Spurs won the Europa League. Both of these wins were something of a surprise, and winning a trophy of some sort can often be a kick-start towards more sustained success, but neither have particularly looked like doing so yet this season.

Newcastle beat Fulham at the weekend but didn’t tear up any trees in doing so, and that’s been the story of their season so far, while Spurs’ have been getting the results without the performances quite being at the level which makes you believe that they’re not going to glitch out and perform in the way that they did against Aston Villa again at some point in the relatively near future. 

When two teams who’ve both been somewhat inconsistent are meeting in a match for which both are expected to make changes, picking a winner feels particularly fiendish. But Newcastle have an excellent recent record in this fixture and it’s a long journey north for Spurs, and while winning a domestic trophy would be a perfect aperitif after their Europa League win, it does feel as though this trip might be a step too far. I’ll go for Newcastle to get home 2-1, but given the way these two teams have performed so far this season, anything could happen. 

(Cover image from IMAGO)

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