The Guardian

Tottenham feared it was going to be a story about a fresh take on VAR pain. There were 77 minutes on the clock, this Carabao Cup semi-final had finally started to bubble and Dominic Solanke thought he had put Spurs in front. It was not only a fine finish from Pedro Porro’s searching through-ball but a goal of rich narrative possibility. This was a striker, remember, who had not enjoyed himself at Liverpool earlier in his career.

Enter the referee, Stuart Attwell, to explain, live and miked up, that Solanke had been offside. Attwell even blew his whistle into his microphone, which was a bit jarring. And yet there would be a twist. A glorious one in Spurs’s eyes, one to fire the dream of a first trophy since 2008. And one to have Liverpool raging. Lucas Bergvall, the precociously talented Spurs midfielder, ought to have been sent off for cleaning out Kostas Tsimikas. He was already on a yellow card.

But now there Bergvall was, time almost up, striding onto a cut-back from Solanke to lash past Alisson. The stadium descended into bedlam. For Liverpool, there were recriminations, a rare bump in the road under Arne Slot.

Ange Postecoglou is not exactly spoilt for selection choices at present; how he must envy Slot, whose strong starting XI was entirely by design. He had left a host of key players back on Merseyside for the quarter-final win at Southampton. Not here. Even his bench felt like a statement.

It was easy to feel the ghosts of Liverpool’s previous visit; the 6-3 league win before Christmas, a scoreline that flattered Spurs. Postecoglou is not one for compromise but there have been a few tweaks lately; the full-backs not bombing on so much, the midfield slightly more solid.

Postecoglou had started with Rodrigo Bentancur and Yves Bissouma in front of the back four but he was forced to change in the early running. It was not immediately clear what had happened to Bentancur after Son Heung-min returned a Spurs corner into the danger area and Radu Dragusin drew a smart save out of Alisson.

Bentancur had thrown himself into a stooping header from the initial delivery and he simply did not move from the ground, players from both teams waving the medics on straight away. Bentancur was treated for roughly eight minutes before he was taken away on a stretcher. The lack of any TV replays of the incident when it happened reinforced the severity of it; the worry levels. Spurs would report at half-time that Bentancur was conscious, talking and bound for a hospital check-up.

Postecoglou introduced Brennan Johnson on the right wing, moved Dejan Kulusevski inside and it was more like 4-3-3 with Bergvall staying high most of the time in central midfield. The responsibility on Bissouma was huge and he played it fast and loose, picking up a first-half booking after finding himself on the wrong side of Diogo Jota.

Liverpool started slowly; there were errors from them on the ball – a high number of them. Some required double-takes. What, really? Slot’s team had to reshuffle themselves when Jarell Quansah felt something and went off just before the half-hour. On came Wataru Endo; he had played in central defence at Southampton.

Liverpool grew as a first half that featured 11 additional minutes wore on. Conor Bradley, who started ahead of Trent Alexander-Arnold at right-back, was a physical, driving presence. The visitors threatened to get in with overlaps up the left.

Chances were at a premium before the break. Son crossed for Solanke on 22 minutes but the centre-forward could not get the backheel to work. Solanke might have been offside.

Liverpool’s best moment came when Tsimikas teed up Alexis Mac Allister with a cross. It was on a plate but Mac Allister headed straight at Antonin Kinsky, who had been thrust straight into the team after his arrival from Slavia Prague on Sunday. There was almost a horror moment for Kinsky when he slipped when addressing a routine shot from Cody Gakpo before recovering just in time.

Kinsky had the gumption to make the ‘calm down’ gesture; it was all under control. What a baptism it was for the 21-year-old, who had taken part in only two training sessions with his new teammates. He has played in the Europa League this season. This was another level.

The tensions simmered. Postecoglou was animated in his technical area, which feels like an increasingly regular sight. He was on his knees in anguish just before the hour when Spurs blew a golden chance for the opening goal.

Alisson just about got away with a drag-back under pressure from Bergvall but not when he dithered and was robbed by the young Swede. The ball broke for Porro, whose shot was blocked by Virgil van Dijk with Alisson away from his goal. Another break, a Bergvall pass and there was Porro, gloriously placed. His chipped finish lacked conviction and drifted wide.

Slot flexed his muscles, introducing Alexander-Arnold, Luis Díaz and Darwin Núñez in a single swoop. His team pushed. Salah flickered. He would release Núñez up the inside right; Kinsky made a big block. There was also the moment when Alexander-Arnold unloaded a first-time shot from an angle of venomous power which flew past Kinsky. Dragusin would make an excellent clearance off the line behind him.

From the archive: classic Spurs v Liverpool matches

So, then, the Titanic. That went down a month after Tom Mason and Ernie Newman had given Tottenham a 2-1 victory at Anfield on 16 March 1912. Who’d have thought it would take the Lilywhites another 73 years to record their next win at Liverpool? And that – this is eerie – they would record it on exactly the same day of the year?

Garth Crooks was the hero for Peter Shreeves’s side, who had designs on the championship. Reigning champions Liverpool had been playing erratically all season, with Kevin MacDonald – a good player, just not a great one – no replacement for the departed Graeme Souness.

This result – Crooks scoring the winner with 19 minutes to go, following up a Micky Hazard shot which had been spilled by Bruce Grobbelaar – was celebrated wildly by Spurs. Partly because of the lifting of the historical millstone the players were allowed to keep their shirts as souvenirs, at a time when such practices were rarer, but mainly because it looked like being the symbolic catalyst to win the title.

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Preamble

Sequels, bloody hell. For every Godfather Part II there are usually a dozen Speed 2: Cruise Controls. It’s the same in football, where it’s rare for two teams to follow one thriller with another. But there are occasional exceptions, as anyone who followed Liverpool or Newcastle in the mid-1990s will tell you, and tonight has the potential to be another.

It’s barely a fortnight since Liverpool undressed Spurs 6-3 in the Premier League, and while we shouldn’t necessarily expect a repeat scoreline, the nature of both teams is such that it’s hard to envisage a clunker.

The stakes are high for both clubs and especially for the Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou. He usually wins trophies in his second season but, if tonight goes wrong, his only souvenir from the 2024-25 season might be a P45.

Let’s hope not. Big Ange and Spurs make English football a far more interesting, fun place. We can’t, or at least we shouldn’t, discuss their desperate recent form without acknowledging a pretty brutal injury list. Tonight they are also without the suspended pair of Pape Sarr and James Maddison, but the new signing Anthony Kinsky could start in goal.

Liverpool had an unexpectedly difficult afternoon against Manchester United on Sunday, a reminder that football will always be a funny old game, but they’ve only failed to win twice away from home all season and Arne Slot has named a very strong squad for tonight’s first leg.

In short, if this game ends goalless, I’ll watch Speed 2: Cruise Control every night for a year.

Kick off 8pm.

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Updated at 19.49 CET

Ange Postecoglou has backed Son Heung-min to rediscover his best form and suggested even Mohamed Salah would struggle in the current Tottenham team.

Son, who has seen Spurs trigger their one-year option on his contract to tie him down until the summer of 2026, goes into Wednesday night’s ­Carabao Cup semi-final first leg at home to ­Liverpool with an unforgiving ­spotlight on his performances.

The club captain’s numbers are down this season – seven goals and six assists from 23 appearances. Salah, meanwhile, has an astonishing 21 goals and 17 assists in 27 games for Liverpool.

Postecoglou wanted to highlight the context, which takes in Spurs’s troubles and how Liverpool have streaked clear at the top ofthe ­Premier League and Champions League tables. Spurs, who remain mired in a selection crisis, have won three of 14 matches, the nadir being the 6-3 home defeat by Liverpool in the league on 22 December.

“People need to have a little bit of context,” Postecoglou said. “Mo is a world-class player but if you put him in our team now I’m not sure he’ll have that same level of performance because of the situation we’re in as a group.

“You need a team that’s in good form, creating opportunities, playing on the front foot, having a really solid foundation of a defence that is ­cohesive. None of these things exist at the moment [at Spurs]. We’re ­relying on individual moments.

“Mo is an unbelievable player but he’s playing in a fantastic team that are flying. I’d hazard to say that if you put Sonny in Liverpool’s team, I reckon his goalscoring return would be decent.

“We are a team that is very disrupted, that is not playing with a fluency that it can play with. We’re asking players to play in positions that they are totally unfamiliar with. But when we’re at our best, I still think you’ll see Sonny’s return – in terms of his ability to score goals and be really effective for us. He’s going through a tough trot but we’re going through a tough trot. That goes hand in hand.”

Postecoglou is under mounting pressure and he admitted that “not a great deal has changed” since the 6-3 Liverpool game in terms of the overall situation: injuries, suspensions, the strain on the squad, especially at the back and across the front three.

Definitely out through injury are Guglielmo Vicario, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Ben Davies, ­Destiny Udogie, Wilson Odobert and Richarlison. James Maddison and Pape Sarr are banned. Mikey Moore could return to the bench. Postecoglou said Richarlison may be back for next Wednesday’s league match at Arsenal.

On the upside, Spurs did have a free midweek last week and Son played for only 28 minutes as a substitute in Saturday’s league defeat at home to Newcastle. He has been in need of a breather. The Czech Republic Under-21 international goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky has also arrived for £12.5m from Slavia Prague. Postecoglou must decide whether to put him straight into the lineup ahead of Fraser Forster and Brandon Austin.

What the manager once again made clear was the need for ­January reinforcements. In the context of a discussion about the impressive contributions of the centre-forward Dominic Solanke, Postecoglou said: “Hopefully in the very near future we get some help for him and then I think we’ll see him go to another level.”

Pressed on whether that meant a new signing up front or the return of an existing player, he replied: “Both. It’s hopefully what we can do but I wouldn’t suggest tomorrow. Not a centre-forward but I think we need some help in the front half if we can get it. We know that all being well, in seven days, Richy’s back and he’ll definitely help Dom.”

Spurs have an interest in the Paris Saint-Germain forward Randal Kolo Muani and Postecoglou did not pull down the shutters when the player’s name was mentioned. “Look, we are still trying to help the squad,” he said.

Postecoglou’s focus is on the Liverpool semi-final and, plainly, winning a trophy would give his project a shot in the arm – and boost his job security. He was reminded that the Spurs chairman, Daniel Levy, sacked José Mourinho six days before the club took on Manchester City in the 2021 Carabao Cup final.

“So, just drop out at the semi-final, you reckon?” Postecoglou said with a smile. “I don’t need greater [job] security. All I see is a group of players who are giving absolutely everything; every person at this football club pushing hard every day.

“The results are on me. It’s my responsibility to change that. And if it doesn’t change, then of course I’m the one who should take whatever ramifications there are to it. But I don’t need any more security than seeing what I see every day – that the club and everyone at the club is totally supportive of what we’re ­trying to do.”

Tottenham have triggered the one-year option on Son Heung-min’s contract to ensure he remains tied to them until the summer of 2026.

The move is in line with expectation and protects the club against Son walking out as a free agent at the end of the season or signing a pre-contract with an overseas club this month with a view to a summer Bosman transfer.

The longer-term picture remains less clear. Son will be 34 in the summer of 2026 and he and the club face complicated talks over whether to extend their partnership.

The nightmare scenario for the chairman, Daniel Levy, would be to lose Son for no fee. If he suspects it may be a possibility, he could feel compelled to listen to offers this summer.

Son, who was appointed as the club captain in the summer of 2023, has become a global star in north London; arguably the most famous footballer in Asia.

The South Korean signed from Bayer Leverkusen in 2015 for £22m and has made 431 appearances for Spurs, putting him 11th on the club’s all-time list. He has scored 169 goals. Only Harry Kane, Jimmy Greaves, Bobby Smith and Martin Chivers have more for the club.

Arsenal v Newcastle, ​Tuesday 8pm

Arsenal had to share the spoils with Brighton at the Amex last weekend. Ethan Nwaneri opened the scoring for the visitors but João Pedro equalised from the spot after the Brazilian was adjudged to have been fouled by William Saliba. The 1-1 draw extended Arsenal’s unbeaten run to 13 matches, but Mikel Arteta will be disappointed to have dropped two more points. They remain six behind Liverpool, who have a game in hand. No team won more points in the league in 2024 than Arsenal but the title remains elusive.

Attention now turns to their Carabao Cup semi-final meeting with Newcastle, who are desperate to win any kind of trophy. They were beaten by Manchester United in the final two years ago, having gone 70 years without a major honour. They come into this semi-final in great form, having beaten Tottenham in north London on Saturday to extend their winning run to six matches in all competitions. They don’t have a great record at the Emirates– their only win there came in November 2010 – though they will look to capitalise upon their hosts’ injury concerns.

Nwaneri was forced off at the break against Brighton and he is potentially out for a number of weeks. With Bukayo Saka and Raheem Sterling both absent, Gabriel Martinelli may deputise on the right flank, with Leandro Trossard starting from the left. Gabriel Jesus is expected to keep his place despite Kai Havertz’s expected availability after the German missed the meetings with Brentford and Brighton due to illness.

While Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu are missing, Jurrien Timber returns from a ban and may start at right-back. Riccardo Calafiori has also played his first full 90 minutes since the loss at Bournemouth in October, which is a boost for Arteta – although the Italian could still make way for Myles Lewis-Skelly at left-back.

Eddie Howe, meanwhile, is without the suspended Fabian Schär and Bruno Guimarães for the first leg. Sven Botman made his first appearance since March in the 2-1 win at Spurs, although Howe may be reluctant to use the Dutchman from the outset given his lengthy spell on the sidelines. Lloyd Kelly could come in to partner Dan Burn at the back.

Emil Krafth, Callum Wilson, Jamaal Lascelles and Nick Pope are out, with Martin Dubravka expected to deputise in goal once more. Howe will be hoping Anthony Gordon and striker Alexander Isak, who has scored in his last seven league games, will maintain their rich vein of form to fire the visitors to a first-leg advantage on Tuesday night.​

Prediction: Arsenal to win 2-1 on the night and go through

Tottenham v Liverpool, ​Wednesday 8pm

Tottenham were unable to make home advantage count when they took on Newcastle on Saturday, falling to a 2-1 ​defeat despite taking an early lead through Dominic Solanke. They are without a win in four league matches, and have only won one of their last eight home games in all competitions. That was ​in the League Cup ​w​hen they beat Manchester United 4-3 in a chaotic contest.

Spurs are going through an injury crisis and, to make matters worse, an illness bug swept through the camp last week, which​ meant second-choice ​goalkeeper Fraser Forster ​had to drop out of the side. With Guglielmo Vicario still recovering from a broken ankle, Brandon Austin​ stepped in against Newcastle at the weekend. It was his first appearance for the club since his arrival in 2019 and​ he put in a solid showing. Austin celebrates his 26th birthday on Wednesday but is likely to be on the bench, with new £12.5m signing Antonin Kinsky ​expected to make his debut for Spurs after joining the club from Slavia Prague earlier this week. The 21-year-old keeper – the son of a Czech international stopper by the same name – has been signed as one for the future but Spurs need him now.

Rodrigo Bentancur returns in midfield after ​missing the Newcastle ​match ​with a ban, which is a boost as Pape Sarr and James Maddison are both suspended for the first leg. Radu Dragusin is a doubt having been taken off at the break a​t the weekend and​, with Ben Davies, Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero all absent​, Djed Spence may partner Archie Gray at the heart of the Spurs defence​, with Sergio Reguilón featuring from the outset in a makeshift backline. Richarlison is close to a return, but this game comes too soon for Wilson Odobert, while Destiny Udogie is out until mid-February at the earliest owing to a hamstring injury.​

It’s a very different story for Liverpool. This season could not have gone much better for Arne Slot. His team are top of the Premier League and Champions League tables, and they have precious few injuries considering the number of games they are playing. Ibrahima Konaté and Conor Bradley both returned in the 2-2 draw with Manchester United, a match Dominik Szoboszlai missed due to illness. The Hungarian could sit this one out, while defender Joe Gomez is also missing.

Slot is expected to rotate his side, though he may opt for a stronger starting XI than in the previous round, when Liverpool did enough to see off Southampton. Caoimhin Kelleher, Bradley, Wataru Endo and Darwin Núñez are all likely to come into the team. There may be a slight drop in quality, but Liverpool have won all but two of their 14 away matches this season – including their last four – a record they are expected to extend on Wednesday night. They scored six when they played at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in December, so Ange Postecoglou and his team are up against it.

Prediction: Liverpool​ to win 4-2 on the night and progress to the final

Tottenham have completed their first signing of the January transfer window with the addition of Slavia Prague goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky. Kinsky completed a medical at Tottenham on Saturday and has signed a contract until 2031 with the deal worth £12.5m, plus add-ons.

Spurs have been without first-choice stopper Guglielmo Vicario since he fractured his ankle during the 4-0 win over Manchester City on 23 November and he is set to be sidelined until the end of February.

Fraser Forster initially deputised to good effect but Tottenham have only won two of their last 11 games in all competitions amid an injury crisis and the England international missed Saturday’s 2-1 loss at home to Newcastle with illness. It resulted in Brandon Austin being thrust into the starting line-up for his club debut, but the north London club have moved quickly to boost Ange Postecoglou’s depleted squad.

“It’s been amazing to sign the contract,” said Kinsky. Tottenham is a big name in Europe, especially in the Czech Republic so for me it is a big honour. I spoke with the coaches and the sporting director and I really got the feeling this is going to be the right choice,” continued the 21-year-old. “I like to play a lot with my feet. I’m looking forward to training, hopefully for the games. That’s the aim of every player, to be on the pitch.

“My father [a former professional goalkeeper] has been a big role model for me. He’s involved in every decision I make. He told me this is a big chance to go for it.”

The Czech Republic Under-21 international has made 29 appearances for Slavia Prague this season and kept 14 clean sheets.

After Kinsky started his career at Dukla Prague, he moved across the city to join Slavia in 2021 and following loan spells with Vyskov and Pardubice, he has established himself as a regular, but will now continue his career in England.

Ange Postecoglou described himself as “really, really angry”, the “angriest I think I have ever been in my career” that his players were “denied the right rewards for a fantastic performance” after Saturday’s 2-1 home defeat to Newcastle.

Although he repeatedly refused to specify he was talking about the refereeing and the decision not to rule out Newcastle’s equaliser for handball, there was little doubt what he was referring to. “I think it’s clear,” he said.

“Whether people agree with me or not whether it wasn’t handball or it was accidental, I’m just not interested in any of that discussion. What I’m saying is, on any given day with a fair and even playing field and logical thought processes, we would have won that game.”

His Newcastle counterpart, Eddie Howe, was studiously diplomatic. “It definitely hit Joelinton’s arm,” he said, “but I’m not in control of the referee’s decision. I believe the arm is down in a natural position and the referees and VAR have followed the protocols.”

Postecoglou is clearly frustrated at how many things – not just refereeing – are going against his side. After injuries to his goalkeeper, left-back and three centre-backs, Spurs were struck by a bug.

“Radu [Dragusin] and Archie [Gray] were bed-ridden all week,” he said. “Fraser [Forster], he’s still bed-ridden and struggling with it. There’s a couple of others struggling. At half-time, Radu didn’t have any more to give. On Thursday, we had 11 fit players for training.

“But I don’t care about that, what I care about is the players put in an unbelievable performance, fantastic football, created chances, denied them and having to defend strongly, which we did. It’s unfair on them more than anything else that they didn’t get the rewards.”

The win, coming after Monday’s 2-0 win at Manchester United, helped consolidate Newcastle in fifth in the table. “It’s been a massive two games for us,” Howe said, “because our away form has been a bit patchy and only winning can give you confidence you can win at any ground. It’s never a perfect game, never going to have everything your own way but we found a way to come back.

“I made a conscious decision to be consistent with my team selection to try to build consistency. I’ve been very reluctant to change things. We defended very well in the main. We did manage the game in the end very well.”

It didn’t take long for the Thomas Tuchel effect to be felt. By the time six minutes had been played at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium under the – seemingly quite grumpy – eye of the new England head coach, two English players had scored with excellent finishes, Dominic Solanke with a plunging header and Anthony Gordon with a calm angled shot. If there were concerns about Gordon’s positioning for Solanke’s goal, they could be excused in the context of a generally excellent defensive performance from Newcastle.

Nine of the starters were England-qualified, even with James Maddison on the bench. Of most interest to Tuchel, perhaps, would have been a Newcastle pairing with which he is already familiar. It was Tuchel who gave Lewis Hall his full Chelsea debut, starting him on the left of a back three in a 5-1 FA Cup win over Chesterfield in 2022. Later that year, around a month before Tuchel was sacked, Chelsea had a £40m bid for Gordon rejected by Everton. Newcastle’s left flank is the left side Chelsea could have had and the left side England might favour in the future.

Hall certainly has the opportunity to become England’s first-choice left-back for a decade or so and while Gordon has more obvious competition further forward on that flank he is the most direct of the candidates, the only one who really gives an option running in behind. Hall’s emergence can’t hurt his chances; for national sides, pre-existing club coalitions can be a valuable shortcut towards mutual understanding. At right‑back, Tino Livramento must be under consideration.

Archie Gray, meanwhile, despite struggling with sickness, produced a composed and mature performance that can only have enhanced his credentials, maybe not now and maybe not at centre-back, but perhaps before too long.

There is a clear vacancy for a back-up to Harry Kane, possibly with a view to replacing him in the medium-to-long term – although the fact Tuchel’s contract runs only to the World Cup means his focus is likely to be on the here-and-now. Ollie Watkins is the man in possession, but he has not been at his best this season. Liam Delap may be emerging as a candidate, but Solanke did his cause no harm, not just with the strength and movement that brought his goal, but in his general play.

It may be that none of these players start Tuchel’s first game as England head coach, against Albania in March, but there will definitely be games he attends where he sees fewer options. Next up: a trip to Brighton v Arsenal on Saturday evening.

Ange Postecoglou stood, as he always does, hands in pockets, at the edge of his technical area. It had been another frustrating afternoon, a defeat that means Spurs have now won just one of their last eight games. There was general grumbling rather than targeted fury, but also the clear sense of another season drifting away for Spurs. For Newcastle, meanwhile, a fifth successive Premier League win means Champions League qualification, which seemed so unlikely when they lost at Brentford a month ago, seems a suddenly realistic target.

Of course it was going to be like this; how could it not have been? This is just the way Spurs do it, mate. There stands Postecoglou; he can do no other. But there also stands Radu Dragusin, and there stands Pape Matar Sarr, mystifyingly far apart. This is about philosophies, but it’s not only about philosophies. There is no system in which the opposition should be allowed to wander through the spaces in the way Newcastle did at time towards the end of the first half. That is not anybody’s process, and Eddie Howe’s side, particularly before half-time, took full advantage.

And it’s not to say it’s untrue to point out that the focus on Postecoglou and his dogmatism deflects from far deeper issues. Tottenham’s wages-to-turnover percentage stands at a startling 47%, the lowest in the Premier League. That could be construed as the sign of a well-run club, but it also hints at a lack of ambition. Maybe if they pushed that to 48% they wouldn’t have begun the season with only three front-line centre-backs. It is unfortunate – or perhaps a result of the intensity of the Postecoglou style of play – that all three are injured at the same time, with Dragusin additionally forced off at half-time, but equally a squad that is thin in certain areas inevitably opens a side up to just that sort of bad luck.

It’s also why, when Guglielmo Vicario was injured, Spurs’ back-up was Fraser Forster, a very different style of goalkeeper. With the 36-year-old succumbing to the sickness bug that left Spurs with four teenagers on the bench, a debut was given to Brandon Austin. He turns 26 on Wednesday and has been at the club eight seasons, but has not played a senior game since Orlando City, where he was on loan, went down 3-1 to Chicago Fire in July 2021. The cheers every time he dealt effectively with a cross suggested just where expectations are these days.

Yet the new year had begun well for Spurs, Dominic Solanke muscling in front of Sven Botman, in his first game for 295 days, to head in Pedro Porro’s right-wing cross after four minutes. The spirit of bonhomie, though, lasted less than two minutes. Lucas Bergvall’s pass hit Joelinton in the hand, the ball broke to Bruno Guimarães who played it to Anthony Gordon, who converted neatly. The hand was by the Brazilian’s side and in no sense deliberate. Was it in the immediate buildup to the goal? Given two other players had to touch the ball before it hit the net, the referee and video assistant referee deemed not. Postecoglou shook his head grimly.

The equaliser was perhaps controversial but, equally, it was the sort of chance Spurs often concede, the ball given away in their own half. Again and again possession was squandered; again and again Newcastle created opportunities. Gordon had a couple of other chances, one well-saved by Austin, one slithering just wide. But Jacob Murphy was also a persistent threat getting in behind Djed Spence and, eventually, one of his low crosses flicked off Dragusin and was turned in by Alexander Isak, the seventh league game in a row in which he has scored.

Spurs rallied after half-time, Sarr drawing a stretching low save from Martin Dubravka and Brennan Johnson slamming the rebound against the post. James Maddison, watched by Thomas Tuchel in the first game the German has attended as England’s head coach, came off the bench to whip one just wide. Johnson and Sergio Reguilón smashed balls across the six-yard box in quick succession. And while it wouldn’t be accurate to say Newcastle presented no threat on the break, neither were they slicing through Spurs in the way others had this season.

Particularly given Spence had to be deployed as an auxiliary centre-back – he performed the role admirably – the second half could be painted as a positive, something to build on. The problem, though, is context: when a side has taken just 37 points from its previous 30 games, it’s not much consolation if the defeat is doughtier than they have been.

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Not long now: Led by referee Andy Madley and his team of match officials, the players of both teams march out on to the pitch for the last of the pre-match formalities on a bitterly cold afternoon in London. Dejan Kulusevski and Bruno Guimaraes wear the captains’ armbands.

I think I read somewhere this morning that there’s been at least one goal in each of the past 59 games played between these sides and I will hardly be alone in being gobsmacked if we don’t get several more today. Kick-off is just a few minutes away …

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Updated at 13.29 CET

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Updated at 13.17 CET

An email: “G’day Barry,” writes Chris Paraskevas, who I’m guessing might be in Australia. “The lads and I (three grown men with actual resoonsibilities in life) have tempted fate and assembled to watch the game together.

“In the past this has always resulted in disaster. To top things off, we are all wearing a variation of this season’s Newcastle strip. Given Tottenham have had to call up Ledley King at centre-back, surely even our me̶n̶’̶s̶ ̶c̶l̶u̶b̶ supporters club evil eye/curse won’t help Ange tonight.”

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Transfer news: It is being reported that Tottenham Hotspur are on the verge of signing Slavia Prague goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky, who is reported to be in London undergoing a medical. A fee of £12.5m plus add-ons is being mentioned for the Czech Republic U-21 international who has made 29 appearances for Slavia Prague this season and kept 14 clean sheets.

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Eddie Howe on the chatter linking Alexander Isak with a January move away from St James’ Park: “Our players are loved by us and wanted by us,” he told reporters. “Their focus can only be on the here and now. I don’t see it being an issue for us, especially in this transfer window. The players are very focused.”

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Updated at 13.10 CET

Ange Postecoglou on Tottenham’s transfer window plans: “The club is working hard to get some help for the playing group,” he told reporters. “We need to bolster up our numbers a little bit. January is obviously not an easy time to bring players in quickly and we still want to do what’s best for us rather than panic.”

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Updated at 13.10 CET

Today’s match officials

Referee: Andy Madley.

Assistants: Nick Hopton and Craig Taylor.

Fourth official: Lewis Smith.

VAR: Chris Kavanagh.

Assistant VAR: Sian Massey-Ellis.

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Those teams: As expected, third choice goalkeeper Brandon Austin starts for Spurs and the 25-year-old from Hemel Hemstead will make his first senior appearance in English football following short loan spells in Denmark and the USA. The most recent of those, with Orlando, was in 2021.

Elsewhere in the side, Timo Werner starts ahead of Son Heung-min, while James Maddison is on the bench. Djed Spence gets another start, in place of the injured Destiny Udogie. Lucas Bergvall comes in for the suspended Rodrigo Bentancur.

Sven Botman is welcomed straight into the heart of Newcastle’s defence on his return from nine months on the sidelines with a knee injury, while Tino Livramento starts at full-back in place of Kieran Trippier, who drops to the bench.

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Updated at 13.10 CET

Tottenham Hotspur v Newcastle line-ups

Tottenham Hotspur: Austin; Porro, Dragusin, Gray, Spence; Bergvall, Sarr; Johnson, Kulusevski, Werner; Solanke.

Subs: Whiteman, Reguilon, Dorrington, Hardy, Bissouma, Maddison, Olusesi, Son, Lankshear.

Newcastle United: Dubravka; Livramento, Botman, Burn, Hall; Tonali, Guimaraes, Joelinton; Murphy, Isak, Gordon.

Subs: Vlachodimos, Trippier, Barnes, Osula, Almiron, Kelly, Willock, Longstaff, Miley

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Early team news

With Fraser Forster out sick after catching a bug that’s infilitrated the Tottenham camp, Ange Postecoglou is expected to give 25-year-old goalkeeper Brandon Austin his first senior start in English football after five years at the club and 78 games spent on the bench as an unused substitute. Good luck to him.

A glum Ange revealed yesterday that Destiny Udogie is expected to be out for at least six weeks with a hamstring injury and the Spurs full-back joins a long list of lame and halt in the Tottenham treatment room.

The names of Guglielmo Vicario, Mikey Moore, Richarlison, Micky van de Ven, Ben Davies, Cristian Romero and Wilson Odobert all currently feature on it. Djed Spence is available again but Rodrigo Bentancur misses out today through suspension.

Newcastle are without Fabian Schar, who joins Bentancur on the Naughty Step, while Nick Pope, Callum Wilson, Jamaal Lascelles and Emil Krafth all remain sidelined with injury. Sven Botman is expected to undergo a late fitness test and could make his first appearance for Newcastle since last March after recovering from a serious knee injury.

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Updated at 13.10 CET

Premier League: Tottenham v Newcastle

Riding high in fifth place on the back of four consecutive Premier League wins, Newcastle arrive in London as the favourites to make it five on the spin against out-of-sorts hosts who have a lengthy injury list and are without a win in their past three games, two of which have been lost.

Tottenham Hotspur drew with Wolves last time out, while Newcastle’s most recent outing saw them humble Manchester United on their own turf at Old Trafford as they kept their fourth consecutive clean sheet in the top flight. Kick-off in North London is at 12.30pm (GMT) but stay tuned in the meantime for team news and build-up.

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