Welcome to the Newcastle v Spurs preview.
Tuesday 2nd December – An 8.15pm kick-off.
The Toon welcome one of our favourite house guests to St James’ Park on Tuesday night and will be desperate to achieve three successive PL victories for the first time this season.
Tottenham have already visited St James’ in the League Cup this term and left having been soundly beaten 2-0.
This was the Toon’s fourth consecutive home victory over Spurs in all competitions, this opposition having endured a number of heavy beatings by NUFC in the Premier League era.
They’re currently not having the best of times and Thomas Frank will be hoping for three points to ease the pressure on him after a disappointing run of form.
Form
The past six PL matches have seen Newcastle win three and lose three. We’ve beaten Everton, Man City and Fulham but lost to Brentford, West Ham and Brighton. We’ve scored eleven goals in these games and conceded eleven. The nine points gained has us thirteenth in the league but just four points off fifth. All results going our way could rocket us into the top seven.
Spurs have won just one of their past six league matches, drawn one and lost four. They’ve scored eight and conceded eleven. These four points have seen them drop to level with the Toon on eighteen points for the season. They’ll also be looking for a place in the top seven should they win at St James’ Park.
Last time out
Newcastle travelled to Everton on Saturday evening and absolutely destroyed the Toffees with an attacking performance that blew the opposition away and ensured our first away win in the league for seven months. Malick Thiaw opened the scoring after just fifty-four seconds, then the Toon had to soak up some Everton pressure until Lewis Miley doubled the advantage with a shot that bounced in the area and went through both the arms and legs of Mackem Jordan Pickford. When Woltemade was played through on goal before half time, he lobbed the ball into the net to secure a three-goal half-time lead that not even the most optimistic Toon fan could have predicted pre-match. The second half started in a similar vein and Thiaw smashed home a header to put the Toon 4-0 up and spark absolute ecstasy amongst the travelling fans. Fair play to Everton who refused to roll over, they had one disallowed and then had the ball in the net again to reduce the arrears but this was a fantastic away win for Newcastle and, along with the win against Man City last week, is hopefully just the beginning of a run of form that will really kick-start our season.
Tottenham hosted Fulham at the weekend and found themselves 2-0 down after just six minutes due to goalkeeping errors that saw so-called Spurs fans jeering their own ‘keeper. With such a poisonous atmosphere, it’s no wonder they’ve won only three home games this calendar year. Things almost went from bad to worse when Fulham hit the post soon after but a two-goal halftime deficit saw Tottenham booed down the tunnel. They did improve after the break and were able to pull one back but another home defeat saw them booed and jeered at the end of the match as the pressure mounts on their manager to get results and climb the table.
Stat attack!
-Newcastle have won their past four home games against Tottenham in all competitions, scoring an incredible fourteen goals and conceding just two.
-NUFC have racked up some gigantic wins against Tottenham over the years with 4-0 (twice), 5-1, 6-1 (twice) and 7-1 victories all being enjoyed by the Toon Army.
-Newcastle have won their last six home matches in all competitions, three in the league, two in Europe and one in the League Cup (against Spurs!).
Memorable match
In December 1996, Kevin Keegan’s Newcastle had gone seven league games without a win. Seven was about to become a very significant number when Tottenham came to Toon just three days after Christmas. Alan Shearer opened the scoring after showing superb control to flick the ball over a Spurs defender and Sir Les Ferdinand doubled the advantage just two minutes later. With a 2-0 halftime advantage, NUFC looked comfortable but even the most optimistic Toon fan couldn’t have predicted how the second half would unfold. Further goals from Shearer and Sir Les, a brace from Rob Lee and an effort from Philippe Albert had us seven goals to the good with just two minutes remaining, before Spurs pulled one back to the consternation of ‘keeper Shaka Hislop who was genuinely fuming not to keep a clean sheet. Nevertheless, this absolute hammering proved to be one of the highlights of an incredible season as United ran riot.
Final Score Newcastle 7-1 Tottenham.
Played for both
Jermaine Jenas was signed by Sir Bobby Robson in 2002 and was given a baptism of fire when making his full debut in a victory at the Stadium of Light. He looked an absolute world beater for a time and scored a number of good goals as he went on to win the PFA young player of the year award in 2003. Highlights of his time at NUFC include a last-minute winner away at White Hart Late, a late equaliser at Upton Park and a stunning long-range goal against Man Utd. Unfortunately form, fitness and a seemingly poor attitude got in the way of further progress at NUFC and few tears were shed when he signed for Tottenham in 2005. He spent eight years with Spurs, scoring twenty-one goals in one hundred and fifty-five appearances.
Jonathan Woodgate is widely acknowledged to be one of the best defenders to play for NUFC in the Premier League…when fit! Whilst his ability couldn’t ever be questioned, his injury record was abysmal, which was a real shame as we never got to see the best of him. Signed by Sir Bobby in Jan 2003, he stayed for eighteen months before moving to Real Madrid, having only managed twenty-eight league games for the Toon. He played for Spurs for three seasons from 2008 and holds a special place in their history, having headed home the winning goal in the League Cup final against Chelsea to give Spurs their first silverware for nine years.
Scott Parker signed for Newcastle from Chelsea in 2005 and was named captain by Glenn Roader in 2006 following the retirement of a certain Mr Shearer. He Scored four league goals in fifty-five appearances for the Toon and was presented with a plaque to celebrate our achievement of winning the Intertoto cup, although he hardly looked delighted at the pre-match ceremony! He signed for West Ham in 2007 before moving to Tottenham in 2011 where he made fifty appearances without finding the net.
Managers
Eddie Howe after a 4-1 win away at Everton “’lt was a massive win for us. Our first away win of the season, we needed it, we’ve been chasing it and it has been elusive so far, but it was a big moment today. It was a really good performance as well from the players. We looked solid, we looked physically really good, which was a tough test after Marseille, coming back, having to refocus on the Premier League. I was really pleased for the squad today: it was a squad victory. We made changes because I didn’t want fatigue on the pitch. After the Brentford and West Ham game I felt we were tired and lethargic. We have to trust the squad and they repaid that faith. The players who came in were excellent. The players who remained from the previous games did well too. We had athleticism and pace in the right areas of the pitch.”
Thomas Frank after a 2-1 defeat at home to Fulham:
“Of course, this is a tough one. We prepared everything, players ready and then after six minutes we’re down 2-0. That’s a classic example when a team is struggling a little bit and it’s not straightforward, smooth, the momentum and the easy wins, maybe not dropping for you as you want sometimes, and then you concede the first one on deflected shot and the second is a mistake from Vic. In the first half, how can you say, we rushed it too much because we got maybe a bit shell shocked, whatever, you really want to do well and then you’re rushing it too much. In the second half I think we were more cool, created more, scored a good goal, created opportunities, could have got the 2-2, didn’t get it. I see players who badly want to turn it around, badly want to do everything they can to get the win here in front of our fans, make them happy and proud of the team. Sometimes you just have a spell that is tough and we just need to keep working through it, keep going forward, keep doing everything we can to improve it – then we all know we will turn it around.”
Charity
Newcastle United fans food bank will once again be collecting opposite the Gallowgate end and gratefully receiving food, money and toiletries for those in need. Of particular interest are non-perishable food and drink items (such as noodles, pasta, rice, canned food, soup, cereal, cordial, long life milk etc) as well as toiletries such as shower gel, shampoo, toothpaste and sanitary products. Please give whatever you can, any donation is very much appreciated.
For further info and/or to donate online go HERE.
Prediction