Newcastle United v Tottenham Hotspur Premier League – Three reasons why Newcastle can halt Tottenham
Channel: AMT
Date: 2017-08-13

Three reasons why Newcastle can halt Tottenham's St James' Park revenge mission
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Tottenham Hotspur head to St James' Park on Sunday looking for revenge against newly promoted Newcastle United.

The Magpies are playing their first game back in the Premier League after promotion last term, having approached their Championship campaign with fond memories of thrashing Spurs.

Mauricio Pochettino's men had travelled to Tyneside on the final day of the 2015-16 season knowing that a win would secure second place ahead of rivals Arsenal, but it all went terribly wrong for the visitors.

Despite Aleksandar Mitrovic's red card, Newcastle ran out 5-1 winners as a bumper St James' crowd mocked a stunned Tottenham outfit.

Now, with a rematch scheduled for the opening weekend of the new season, Spurs will look to hit back, but here are three reasons to suggest they might come up short again...

Georginio Wijnaldum (C) of Newcastle United celebrates scoring his team's first goal with his team mates Aleksandar Mitrovic (L) and Moussa Sissoko (R) during the Barclays Premier League...

Pre-season planning

Newcastle won the Championship last season as the big boys of the division, dominating matches and dealing with the expectation that followed them.

After promotion, Rafa Benitez knew this would not be the case in the Premier League and immediately set about hatching a plan to ensure a successful first season back in the top flight.

As the Magpies battled relegation in 2016, they hit form under Benitez thanks to a counter-attacking style - seeing off Tottenham in this manner - and appear to be looking to recreate this tactic.

In pre-season, Newcastle have let their opponents keep the ball, before snapping into a press and bursting upfield. It has worked, too.



Hitting the weak spots

Spurs head into this clash with some pretty serious injury problems as they wait on Danny Rose, Erik Lamela and Son Heung-min to return to fitness.

And they were dealt a further blow last week when Kieran Trippier - their only senior right-back after the sale of Kyle Walker - hobbled out of a friendly against Juventus.

With both Trippier and Rose absent, Newcastle will surely look to take advantage and attack the flanks.

Unfortunately for Tottenham, that happens to be an area were the Magpies are strong, too, with Matt Ritchie, Christian Atsu, Jacob Murphy and Rolando Aarons each impressing in pre-season.

Kieran Trippier of Spurs goes off injued during the pre-season match between Tottenham Hotspur and Juventus at Wembley Stadium on August 5, 2017 in London, England.

An early six-pointer

Games between these two teams are always entertaining, mainly because results rarely seem to echo performances across the rest of the season.

Newcastle, despite struggling for numerous years, had a fine record at White Hart Lane, beating Spurs on their last three visits.

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Tottenham will be determined to turn the tables on Newcastle after their 2016 horror show, but the Tyneside crowd surely will not let them forget it on Sunday.

If the home side take the lead, you can be sure that St James' will again be in full voice to remind the visiting players of their past failures.