Premier League
Tottenham vs Newcastle Preview, Team News, Likely Line-Ups, Key Man & Prediction
Tottenham Hotspur welcome Newcastle United to White Hart Lane on Sunday looking to close the gap on the league leaders. Here’s a preview for the big game.
Tottenham Hotspur welcome Newcastle United to White Hart Lane on Sunday looking to close the gap on the league leaders.
Spurs head into the game sitting sixth in the Premier League table but can move up to third with a win tomorrow.
Andre Villas-Boas side warmed up for the game with a 2-1 win over FC Sheriff in the Europa League on Thursday with Jermaine Defoe becoming the clubs all-time leading scorer in Europe to help secure a place in the knockout stages of the competition.
That win came off the back of last Sunday’s 0-0 draw with Everton where goalkeeper Hugo Lloris was knocked unconscious after a collision with Romelu Lukaku. AVB defended his decision to leave the keeper on the pitch for the rest of the game and the Frenchman looks set to be recalled to the starting eleven after being rested in midweek.
Newcastle arrive in the capital full of confidence after beating Chelsea 2-0 at St James Park last weekend thanks to goals from Loic Remy and Yoan Gourcuff.
Team News
Villas-Boas is expected to recall a number of first team regulars after making wholesale changes for the European tie on Thursday. The likes of Michael Dawson, Vlad Chiriches, Paulinho, Andros Townsend and Roberto Soldado are among those who should come back in.
As previous mentioned, Hugo Lloris will also start but Danny Rose remains on the sidelines with a toe injury meaning Jan Vertonghen may continue at left back.
Sandro has been ruled out with a hamstring strain and joins Zeki Fryers and Emmanuel Adebayor on the sidelines.
Captain Fabricio Coloccini is expected to be back in the Newcastle starting eleven after missing the last four games with a groin injury.
However, Cheick Tiote is likely to miss out after being forced off against Chelsea last week with a muscle injury.
Likely Line-Ups
Key Man
Paulinho: The Brazilian has quietly gone about settling in to life in England and has popped up with the odd important goal. We can see him being important tomorrow as Spurs need to win the midfield battle to come out on top in this game.
Predicted Score
Tottenham 2-0 Newcastle: Spurs have been excellent at the back this season and will be difficult to break down, and we predict they will ease past the Geordies by a couple of goals.
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