adminTottenham Hotspur will be desperate for a strong response this afternoon when they welcome Newcastle United for their first Premier League home fixture of the new season.
The Lilywhites endured a nightmare start to Roberto De Zerbi’s reign, suffering a disappointing defeat against Brentford in their opening league game. Tottenham were thoroughly outplayed, highlighting the amount of work still required under their new head coach.
De Zerbi acknowledged after the match that his squad is yet to fully gel as a team, and the Italian will now be hoping to see a much-improved performance in front of the Tottenham faithful.
Tottenham’s home form was a major concern last season, with the club managing just three Premier League victories at N17. That record will need to improve considerably if Spurs are serious about mounting a challenge for a top-six position this campaign.
Tottenham slight favourites against Newcastle
Newcastle head into the encounter with confidence after producing an impressive display against Liverpool in their opening match of the season. The Magpies looked on course for victory before a late equaliser from Liverpool forced them to settle for a draw.
Despite Newcastle’s strong showing, Opta’s Supercomputer has given Tottenham a narrow advantage ahead of the clash.
According to the predictions, Spurs have a 43.6 per cent chance of securing their first league victory of the campaign against Matthias Jaissle’s Newcastle side.
The Magpies have been given a 32.1 per cent probability of claiming all three points in North London, while the chances of the match ending in a draw stand at 24.3 per cent.
Although the figures make Tottenham marginal favourites, the prediction suggests there is very little separating the two sides, pointing towards what could be a tightly contested encounter.
Tottenham receive injury boost ahead of Newcastle clash
Tottenham remain without several important players, including Wilson Odobert, Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison and Xavi Simons.
However, Spurs could receive a timely boost with Mohammed Kudus potentially returning to the matchday squad and taking a place on the bench against Newcastle.
Pedro Porro and Micky van de Ven are also expected to make their first Premier League starts of the season after successfully coming through Wednesday’s Carabao Cup fixture without suffering any setbacks.
Newcastle, meanwhile, have their own injury concerns. Dan Burn, Joelinton, William Osula and Tino Livramento are all expected to miss the Magpies’ trip to North London.
With both teams looking for their first league victory of the season, Tottenham will know that anything less than a significant improvement could leave De Zerbi facing early questions about his new project.
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