Football, eh? Little more than a week ago, there was doom and gloom around an asset-stripped Newcastle United and plenty of positivity about a new-look Tottenham Hotspur.
Now, the Magpies can reflect on an unbeaten start to the Premier League season, while Spurs sit goalless and pointless at the foot of the table.
Here’s our Scout Notes from the two clubs’ meeting in north London on Saturday.
SAVIO’S FITNESS
One of the Lilywhites’ big-money signings unexpectedly didn’t feature.
Savio (£6.5m), who had such an impressive cameo in his midweek EFL Cup debut, was absent from the hosts’ squad entirely.
It doesn’t sound too serious, at least.
“Savio was another tough player who didn’t play. After the press conference, the medical staff came to me yesterday to inform Savio didn’t feel good. Small muscular problem. Maybe Monday or Tuesday, he can start with us, but the medical staff didn’t want to take any risk with him, especially because he didn’t work or train in the last 15 days with Man City.” – Roberto De Zerbi
PORRO ‘OOP’ – BUT NOT FOR LONG
In Savio’s absence, Pedro Porro (£5.5m) started ‘out of position’ (OOP) on the right wing:
He was arguably Spurs’ most dangerous attacker, too, racking up more shots than anyone (four).
While most of them were efforts from just outside the box, two of which whistled over, there was a huge opportunity in the first half, which would have resulted in a goal had it not been for a superb Lewis Hall (£5.0m) block.
Naturally, when Savio returns, it’ll be back to right-back duties for Porro.
Indeed, the Spaniard finished Gameweek 2 in the back four, with Mohamed Kudus (£6.5m) returning from seven months out as a late sub on the right flank.
MARMOUSH DEBUT
While Savio was absent, Omar Marmoush (£7.0m) made his Spurs debut. It was a full debut, too, with Roberto De Zerbi sticking him up front.
Dominic Solanke (£6.0m) was among the substitutes, while Richarlison (£6.0m) was absent as his time in north London approaches its end.
“Richarlison, I don’t know, he said too many times he wants to leave.” – Roberto De Zerbi
While there was some natural, Watkins-esque drifting to the left (Marmoush is no static targetman), there were some encouraging signs from the Egyptian. He twice created space for himself for back-post shots, one from a corner and the other from open play. He was close to turning in Andrew Robertson‘s (£4.5m) low ball, too, but for another great Newcastle block.
SPURS “NOT READY YET”
It wasn’t vintage stuff from Spurs, but neither was it awful.
Really, this was a game that could have swung either way – and the Lilywhites, helped by a flurry of chances late in each half, came out on top on the xG:
We’ve already discussed the opportunities for Porro and Marmoush but Mathys Tel (£6.0m) had an early shot parried away, Jan Paul van Hecke (£5.0m) nodded straight at Lukas Hornicek (£5.0m) from five yards, and substitute Solanke had an effort cleared from near the goalline.
With half the squad still working on their fitness after spells out/disrupted pre-seasons, you’d think De Zerbi’s side is only going to improve.
“Maybe now, we are not ready yet. For many reasons, we are not ready yet, but today, I think, until the first goal, we played better than Newcastle. Newcastle, a good team, good coach, good player, good everything, but we created more chances to score, we shoot more times, we had control of the ball more than Newcastle.
“I think Marmoush, for the first game, played very well. It was the first game for Micky van de Ven and Pedro Porro, they came late and they are crucial for this team, after the World Cup, after two injuries.
“Sandro Tonali is another crucial player. He is not in the right condition, in the best condition yet, maybe physically, even [though] he worked with us at the beginning of the pre-season.” – Roberto De Zerbi
The defeatist mindset is another thing, of course.
“It’s the biggest problem, it’s the biggest challenge, it’s the biggest target, to find the right mentality. Unfortunately, you can’t buy the mentality in the transfer market or [by] putting many players inside. Football is like a magic thing, you know? You can change many players in a window, in one window of the transfer market, and you can find the balance immediately or you need more time. I think we [will] achieve this target, we [will] achieve this goal.” – Roberto De Zerbi on heads dropping after Newcastle’s goal
HALL BANKS DEFCONS AGAIN
Again, when it comes to Newcastle, let’s not get too carried away about a game they could just as easily have drawn or lost.
But, let’s be honest, they’ve far exceeded expectations in the opening two Gameweeks. This looks like, at the very least, a competitive side, and a fully committed one, too.
“You saw that, in the first half, when we didn’t play a really good game, but we really could count on everyone throwing everything into every ball and every cross and this is the commitment, this is the belief also, that we can keep the clean sheet, so that makes me proud.” – Matthias Jaissle
Some heroic defending saw Newcastle keep a clean sheet for the first time since March. Hall, impressively for a full-back, banked DefCon points for the second Gameweek in a row:
It wasn’t just defensive contributions from him.
Hall registered more final-third touches (18) than any other Newcastle player. He also took some corners, and he waltzed forward for a shot that went narrowly over.
ANOTHER DEDIC ASSIST
Speaking of marauding full-backs, Amar Dedic (£4.5m) banked his third assist in two competitive games! Having nearly assisted Anthony Elanga (£6.0m) in the first minute, a copycat Newcastle move saw the same two players combine for Newcastle’s opener.
IMPRESSIVE NICO DEBUT
Nico Gonzalez (£5.5m) made his Newcastle debut in central midfield.
In our Moving Target piece, we highlighted that he a) could be a DefCon magnet based on last season’s numbers or, less likely, b) more of the box-to-box midfielder we saw at Porto.
In the end, he was neither in north London! Zero shots, and just four defensive contributions.
Instead, he was quarterback extraordinaire, pinging cross-field passes from deep out to the flanks.
It was an impressive debut, and he looks like a player who will make Newcastle a much better side, but there was little to encourage from an FPL perspective.
ELANGA + WISSA RENAISSANCE CONTINUES
Elanga scored for the second successive week, while Yoane Wissa (£6.0m) also made it two attacking returns from two by coolly flicking in Newcastle’s second goal.
It’s been an impressive start for the pair under Jaissle.
Wissa’s fitter state was something we discussed in pre-season but Elanga looks like he’s playing with confidence, too, which has always been key for him. While there’s still some scepticism about whether the Swedish winger can continue this purple patch, he did deliver 17 attacking returns in 2024/25 – and, with Newcastle out of Europe and Jacob Murphy (£6.0m) a fading force, there’s not really the rotation risk there was last season.
It’s a promising upcoming run for Newcastle, too, especially from Gameweek 5:
