#Men'sFirstTeam #PremierLeague #PreMatch #Newcastle

Spotlight on... Newcastle

Sat 24 August 2019, 17:53|Tottenham Hotspur

We welcome Newcastle United to our new home on Sunday afternoon (kick-off 4.30pm) for our third Premier League game of the season.

Last campaign, we completed the double over the Magpies. We kicked-off the season away at St James’ Park and picked up a 2-1 victory before we sealed all three points at Wembley in February, as Heung-Min Son’s late strike secured a 1-0 triumph over the north-east outfit.

So ahead of their visit to N17, we put the Toon under the spotlight.

Team news

Strikers Joelinton (hip) and Allan Saint-Maximin (hamstring) are expected to be available for selection this weekend after recovering from their respective injuries.

Andy Carroll, Florian Lejeune, Christian Atsu and Jack Colback, however, all remain out.

Newcastle’s form

It has been a tough start to life at Newcastle United for new manager Steve Bruce. The seasoned Premier League boss picked up the reins at St James’ Park after Rafael Benitez departed the north-east in the close season but, with two games of the campaign played, the Toon remain without a point and find themselves 18^th in the table. They started the campaign with a 1-0 home defeat to Arsenal before newly-promoted Norwich stormed to a 3-1 win over the Magpies at Carrow Road last Saturday.

New faces

There were five new arrivals at St James’ Park over the summer as the Magpies looked to reshape their squad ahead of the new season. The majority of Newcastle’s transfer business focussed on their attacking options as, while forwards Ayoze Perez (Leicester), Joselu (Alaves) and Salomon Rondon (Dalian Yifang) all departed, strikers Joelinton (Hoffenheim) and Allan Saint-Maximin (Nice) both made the move to the north-east, while Andy Carroll returned to Tyneside on a free. The Toon’s defence was also bolstered with the additions of full-backs Jetro Willems (Eintracht Frankfurt) and Emil Krafth (Amiens).

Leader of the opposition

Corbridge-born then raised in Wallsend, Steve Bruce admitted he was ‘incredibly proud’ to be appointed as Newcastle’s new head coach in July after he took the reins at his boyhood club. A defender in his playing career, he started at Gillingham in 1979 but later moved to Old Trafford where he captained Manchester United to two Premier League and FA Cup doubles in 1994 and 1996, as well as picking up five other major honours under Sir Alex Ferguson. Spells at Birmingham City and Sheffield United followed for the centre-back before he hung up his boots and moved into the hot seat at Bramall Lane in 1998. Since then, Bruce has taken charge at nine different clubs including Crystal Palace, Sunderland and Aston Villa.

Last five meetings

2 February, 2019 – Spurs 1-0 Newcastle United – Premier League

11 August, 2018 – Newcastle United 1-2 Spurs – Premier League

9 May, 2018 – Spurs 1-0 Newcastle United – Premier League

13 August, 2017 – Newcastle United 0-2 Spurs – Premier League

15 May, 2016 – Newcastle United 5-1 Spurs – Premier League

The numbers game

21 – We are currently on a run of 21 home games against Newcastle United without a draw.

3 – Newcastle have won just three of their last 21 visits to London, losing 15 of those.

63 – Mauricio Pochettino has won 63 out of his 96 (66 per cent) home league matches as our manager – the best win ratio for any Spurs manager to have overseen at least 15 games.

136 – Newcastle midfielder Jonjo Shelvey has scored with two of his last four shots at goal in the Premier League, having previously scored with two of his last 136 shots.

500 – This will be Mauricio Pochettino’s 500^th game as a manager in all competitions.

Played for both

Able to turn opponents inside-out with his skill, pace and trickery, David Ginola established himself as a true fans' favourite in his time at White Hart Lane.

Joining us after two seasons at Newcastle, where his qualities helped the Toon to back-to-back second place finishes in the Premier League, David was a bright spark in our side in the late 1990s. Collecting a League Cup winners’ medal in 1999, he also went on to be named the PFA Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year that season, despite us enduring a frustrating campaign as we finished in 11^th place. That same year, the Dutch footballing great Johan Cruyff had even described Ginola as ‘probably the best footballer in the world’.

The Frenchman left us in 2000, but returned in March of this year to play his part in our Legends match against Inter Forever, the second of two test events at our new home.

Quiz

We first faced Newcastle United in a competitive fixture in which year?

1895
1905
1915

On our run to the League Cup final in 2015, we progressed to the semi-finals of the competition after defeating Newcastle in December, 2014, but what was the final score?

4-0
5-0
6-0

Chris Waddle joined us in 1985 from Newcastle, but how many appearances did he make in a Spurs shirt in his four years in north London?

153
163
173

Former Spur DeAndre Yedlin permanently swapped north London for north-east England in 2016 when he signed for Newcastle, but from which MLS side had the American defender originally joined us in August, 2014?

DC United
Portland Timbers
Seattle Sounders

Which of the following former Spurs defenders scored the most goals for Newcastle during their respective spells in the north-east?

Jonathan Woodgate
Stephen Carr
Sebastien Bassong

Answers at the bottom of the page.