£40m star out: Newcastle United predicted starting XI to face Tottenham Hotspur

Newcastle United welcome Tottenham Hotspur to St James’ Park tonight eyeing a third straight Premier League win.

The Magpies emphatically ended their away day blues on Saturday night, beating Everton 4-1 to record their first Premier League away victory in seven months. It was also the first time since April that Eddie Howe’s side have won back-to-back games in the league.

With two home matches this week - Burnley also visit Tyneside on Saturday - Howe has set his players the challenge of earning maximum points as they look to move on from their early-season struggles and climb the table.

As it stands, United sit 13th in the table, though are just four below Brighton & Hove Albion in fifth.

Speaking at his pre-Spurs press conference, Howe said: “Yeah, we always felt, even during some difficult runs, that the league's very tight this year and a consistent run of victories can propel you very quickly up the league.

“We're in a better position than we were, not necessarily in terms of league position, but in terms of points gap and, as you say, a couple of wins and we're back to where we want to be.

“So it’s a really key time because what you can't do is allow yourself to become detached. We know where we want to be. We've got work to do to get there. We really need a run of games where we get positive results. That's what we're looking for.”

Howe made six changes to his starting line-up at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, but how many will he make tonight? Here’s our predicted Newcastle United XI: