Notebook – Spurs v Newcastle

After the conclusion of the March international break, we are now on the home straight of our Premier League campaign. Just nine games remain this term and our season continues in earnest on Sunday afternoon with the visit of Newcastle United (4.30pm kick-off).

Here in the Notebook, take a look at all the key points of note ahead of the game…

1 - The business end

With the final international break of the season now behind us, we are now at the business end of the campaign – and we still have a lot to play for. Between now and Sunday 22 May nine huge league games remain for us and, with just three points separating us and a place in the top four, a return to the Champions League is still well within our grasp. This Sunday, we could make a significant step forward in that quest as a victory by at least two goals over Newcastle United would see us rise into fourth spot for the first time since September.

2 - Home troubles versus the Magpies

To move up to fourth on Sunday though, we’ll have to defeat Newcastle United in the Premier League in N17 – something we haven’t managed for over nine years. Not since February, 2013, have we beaten the Magpies in north London as a Gareth Bale brace gave us a 2-1 win at White Hart Lane. Since that victory, we have lost four and drawn one of our league meetings in N17 with Newcastle as our only home victories over the north east side during that period came during our temporary relocation to Wembley between 2017 and 2019 (two 1-0 wins).

3 - Dominant against Newcastle

Despite those difficulties against Newcastle United in N17, in our recent meetings with them both at home and away, we have dominated. In our last nine encounters with Newcastle in the Premier League, we have lost just once (a 1-0 reverse in our first meeting at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in September, 2019) while we have won six of those encounters (D2). And that includes victory in our latest contest, back in October.

4 - Our last meeting

We edged the Magpies in the reverse of this fixture in October with a 3-2 win at St James’ Park. Despite falling behind in the north east to Callum Wilson’s second-minute opener, we were 3-1 up by half-time thanks to strikes from Tanguy Ndombele, Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son. We continued to control proceedings after the break and were given an added advantage on 83 minutes when the hosts were reduced to 10 men as Jonjo Shelvey was shown his second yellow card. However, while we were unable to add to our side of the scoreline, Newcastle managed to grab a late consolation with a second goal in the 89th minute.

Highlights - Newcastle United 2-3 Spurs - October, 2021

5 - In form

While it ended up being a tight victory over the Magpies back in October, we are now an entirely different side to the one that stepped out at St James’ Park six months ago. Over the last few weeks, it has been clear to see, not just in our results but in our performances too, that we have really started to click under Antonio Conte, with such confidence and fluidity coming to the fore in our play.

We go into Sunday’s game with four wins from our last five outings in the Premier League while we have taken maximum points from each of our last two games at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. In fact, ahead of this weekend’s fixtures, only Liverpool (28) had picked up more points than us (21) in the league this calendar year. Furthermore, in each of our last five matches, we have scored at least twice – we last enjoyed a longer such scoring run between February and April, 2017 (seven games).

6 - A dip for Newcastle

At the turn of the year, Newcastle’s Premier League status looked in serious danger with the Magpies sat in the relegation places having collected just 11 points from their first 19 games. However, in 2022, they have dramatically turned their fortunes around.

In their first eight games of the year, they managed to remain unbeaten in the league – their best such run for 11 years. That stretch saw them win six games, drawing the other two as they moved 10 points clear of the drop zone with their points tally almost tripling.

That unbeaten run ended on 13 March though as they fell to a 1-0 defeat to Chelsea, before suffering the same fate and scoreline against Everton four days later. They last suffered three consecutive defeats, all away from home, in January, 2021 (Sheffield United, Arsenal and Aston Villa).

7 - Harry’s flying

Harry Kane has played some of his finest football to date in recent weeks – and he loves facing Newcastle. The Premier League’s Player of the Month for March, Harry has been involved in 10 goals in his last seven league games (seven scored, three assisted) and his performances have been a key part of our turnaround in form. Meanwhile, against Newcastle, he has been involved in seven goals in his last four outings (five scored, two assisted) and that includes both a goal and an assist in our most recent meeting (our 3-2 win at St James’ Park in October).

8 - Son’s home fortunes

Heung-Min Son has enjoyed another impressive season in front of goal for us – especially in north London. So far this term, our number seven has found the target 13 times in the top flight, seeing him second in the competition’s goalscoring rankings ahead of this weekend’s fixtures. Incredibly, though, 10 of those strikes have come at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, including a brace in our last home outing against West Ham. This campaign is the first time that he has recorded double figures in terms of goals at home in the competition.

9 - On target versus the Magpies

Generally, this is a fixture we enjoy scoring in. In our last 32 games against Newcastle in all competitions, we have scored in 30, firing in 55 goals in the process. However, the two games we failed to score in both came in N17 with us falling 1-0 on both occasions (August, 2019, and November, 2013).

10 - A fortress under Antonio

When Antonio Conte arrived in November, he said he wanted to make Tottenham Hotspur Stadium a fortress – and, by and large, he has made good on his word. So far under the Italian, we have picked up 19 points from his first nine home league games (W6 D1 L2) – only one manager in our Premier League history has collected more in their first nine home league games (Juande Ramos – 20).

If he is to pick up another point at home this Sunday, it will be the 200^th point he has collected in the Premier League. Having managed 95 matches in the competition to date, our Head Coach has won 199 points so far. If he reaches the 200-point mark against Newcastle, he will become the third fastest manager to reach that tally behind Jose Mourinho (82) and Pep Guardiola (85).