Focus on Newcastle - Luke Edwards, Telegraph

After the international break, we return to action with a Premier League clash against Newcastle United at St James’ Park on Sunday (2.05pm). To preview the 52nd meeting between the teams in the competition, we tapped into the Toon knowledge of Luke Edwards, Northern football writer at the Daily and Sunday Telegraph.

@LukeEdwardsTele

Form

Luke: “Two wins in 20 in all competitions probably tells most of the story. Back in November, if fans remember, Newcastle were the first club to suffer an outbreak of COVID, they were 10th at the time, they won their first game after that against West Brom (12 December) and were nine points clear of relegation. I don’t think anyone saw this run coming then, but their form has nose-dived, including defeats against Brentford in the League Cup and Sheffield United’s first win in January. They picked up after that, and current form is three defeats in the last seven, with three draws (Wolves, West Brom, Villa) and one win (3-2 against Southampton), but then they were terrible at Brighton (3-0 loss last time out). It’s been a tough season, and there is no sugar-coating that, but they have been playing better recently - apart from Brighton - and there is a good chance they will have Miguel Almiron and Callum Wilson back, perhaps with Allan Saint-Maximin on the bench, and when those three are available, Newcastle are a completely different proposition, offering a potent counter-attacking threat. They have to get out of trouble, and from a Tottenham perspective, that makes them dangerous opponents coming off an international break. They have a point to prove and it will be interesting to see what the reaction is like.”

Style

Luke: “Recently, they’ve looked to play a diamond in midfield, without a centre forward, and the front three interchanging. Certainly, with Wilson, Saint-Maximin and Almiron all available and all out there, Newcastle are a completely different team. They will threaten, and if Spurs leave themselves open to a counter, they will get punished. I don’t think Newcastle will necessarily sit in and try to grind out a result, but they will try to play on the counter. You’d say Tottenham should win it, really, but it will be interesting to see how Newcastle react after Brighton with those three players back in and around the first team again.”

Key player

Luke: “Allan Saint-Maximin doesn’t score a lot of goals, but if he gets the ball one on one with any defender in the Premier League, he’ll go around them. That makes teams really think about what they are going to do with him. If he’s back, Spurs may well double up on him and the space that creates for others is where Newcastle have been dangerous. You can’t take your eyes off him, and he’s one of those players, to quote an old cliché when I was growing up watching football, ‘he’s worth the admission money alone’. I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for the mercurial winger, and we all need players like that.”