As their off-field battles for the signatures of Serie A defenders Nikola Milenković and Stefan de Vrij, as well as Crystal Palace’s Tyrick Mitchell, intensify, Tottenham and Newcastle are continuing some scraps of their own at opposite ends of the Premier League table. With no remaining continental or cup engagements for Spurs, they can attack the three-point gap to fourth-placed Arsenal without distraction.
A Cristiano Ronaldo masterclass at Old Trafford is all that stood between Spurs and five consecutive PL wins after they brutally dismantled West Ham United (W 3-1), who themselves were flying high after advancing to the Europa League quarter-finals. Manager Antonio Conte rejoiced at the “great improvement of my team in many aspects” during the international break, and with just two games to come against fellow Champions League aspirants, many opportunities for points will be presented.
Newcastle kept both Chelsea and Everton scoreless for more than 85 minutes only to fall to consecutive 1-0 away defeats prior to their weekend off, with head coach Eddie Howe insisting his team had “plenty of work to do” despite their nine-point buffer from the relegation zone at the start of the round.
All but one of their league away points this season have been earned at clubs in the bottom half of the standings going into the weekend, including five 2+ goal losses away to the top ten teams. So whilst the ‘Magpies’ have taken points from almost half of their league fixtures as visiting underdogs (W3, D4, L8), the story of their season has been that conquering the more difficult away trips – at least on paper – has persistently been a climb they cannot conquer, although a record of just two league defeats at Spurs in seven trips offers hope (W4, D1).
Players to watch: Star striker Harry Kane has scored in three of his last five meetings with Newcastle, including two doubles, whilst Newcastle midfielder Joelinton has scored the opener with both of his previous strikes against Tottenham.
Hot stat: Both teams have completed at least 18 consecutive PL matches without a 0-0 draw.
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Is this the live blog H?
WB = walking bozo’s.
Would have been tempted to stick harvey white on the left. Decent left peg at least.
Queue the Benny Hill theme song.
literally thought this hope to be proven wrong royals had a while to remember he’s a footballer
I’d prefer Rodon and Davies out wide but what do I know?
Not sure Royal and Doherty (on the left?)are up for the task as WBs.We shall see.