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OPPONENTS |
Newcastle United |
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COMPETITION | Premier League | |||||||||||||||
DATE | Sunday 13th August 2017 | |||||||||||||||
VENUE | St. James' Park | |||||||||||||||
Newcastle United SQUAD | 1.
Rob ELLIOT 2. Ciaran CLARK 3. Paul DUMMETT 4. Jack COLBACK 5. Grant HANLEY 6. Jamaal LASCELLES 7. Jacob MURPHY 8. Jonjo SHELVEY 9. Dwight GAYLE 10. Mohamed DIAME 11. Matt RITCHIE 14. Isaac HAYDEN 15. Siem De JONG 16. Rolando AARONS |
17.
Ayoze PEREZ 18. Chancel MBEMBA 19. Javier MANQUILLO 20. Florian LEJEUNE 23. Mikel MERINO 24. Henri SAIVET 25. Massaido HAIDARA 26. Karl DARLOW 27. Jesus GAMEZ 30. Christian ATSU 41. Freddie WOODMAN 42. Jamie STERRY 45. Aleksandar MITROVIC |
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PREVIEW |
Newly promoted Newcastle United will be hoping to pick up their
Premier League tenure where they left off ... with a 5-1 win over
Spurs at St. James Park.
That looks along time ago now, with circumstances much changed, as we had just been pipped to the title and Newcastle have nothing to lose. This time the pressure is on the Toon, with a good start necessary for them to try to get some point son the board early on. Added to that Tottenham's last two games of last season saw them rack up 13 goals, even after the title had been won by Chelsea. The Spurs squad is not much changed, but United's is, with a younger group of players and having had the benefit of playing in a winning side for a season. Still led by Dwight Gayle up front, the former Palace man did well in the Championship, but he has struggled in the top flight before and Perez and Mitrovic have hardly troubled the Premier League defenders too much in the former's case, while the latter has troubled the Premier League's referees. Siem de Jong is still at the club, but has had an injury hit time there. All of them know where the goal is, but will they get the chances to have a pop ? Jonjo Shelvey claims he is
the midfielder England need, but having had a chance to show what he
can do, has his chance now gone ? A driving midfielder, his
temperament sometimes seems suspect, while some of his team-mates
are hard-working, but might lack the spark to turn matches into
wins. Mo Diame is a strong presence, perhaps designed to be
the Sissoko replacement, but his time at Hull was not a roaring
success and they could be missing a former regular in Jack Colback,
who is reported to have had a row with the manager in training and
might be on his way out of the club. They have a few wingers
in the squad, with Chelsea's Atsu, Norwich City's Jacob Murphy and
former Bournemouth man Matt Ritchie. Atsu is pace, Murphy
tricky and Ritchie dogged and good from dead ball situations.
A couple of players in their midfield have been bought with an eye
to the future, but Isaac Hayden played a lot last season after
joining from the Gooners and Rolando Aarons was at Bristol City
before, but his career appears to have stalled a bit over since
moving North. Loan signing from Borussia Dortmund Mikel Merino is a
bit of a mystery, but he did win the Under-18 European Championship
with Spain in 2015, so, at 21, has potential. Henri Saivet,
who the Magpies beat Spurs to signing last year, made only four
appearances for the Toon before he was shipped out on loan to St.
Etienne. Another youngster, perhaps his time in France might
have made him Premier ready. While the paper version of this game shows a handsome win for Tottenham, the reality is that a passionate ground full of expectant Geordies (well, that is what it looks like in those tight stripey shirts) will want nothing more than three points and Spurs will need to be ready to meet the attitude of the home side. Without Trippier, a little of the attacking intent on the right will be missing and without the speed of GK Nkoudou to throw in, the element of surprise is missing a little, so much will rely on the axis of Dele, Eriksen and Kane. It looks like Moussa Sissoko might play and he will get a rough ride from the Newcastle fans, but he has looked sharper in pre-season (the benefit of a pre-season with Pochettino ?) and the energy in the Tottenham side will be vital to the outcome of the match. We can't go there expecting to win easily, but with the proper application, that could be the outcome. To close the gap on whoever might be above us at any time this season, it is necessary to make possession and chances count.
Spurs might benefit from
catching Newcastle this early in the season, but it won't be a
cake-walk. |
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PREDICTION | Newcastle United 1 Tottenham Hotspur 2 | |||||||||||||||
RESULTS HISTORY | Click here for results, match reports and facts on meetings with Newcastle United | |||||||||||||||
Newcastle
United TEAM NEWS : Former Spurs right back DeAndre Yedlin will miss the game with a hamstring pull. Midfielder Jack Colback may miss out after having a training ground row with manager Rafa Benitez, but striker Dwight Gayle should be fit. |
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TOTTENHAM
HOTSPUR TEAM NEWS : Erik Lamela (hip), Danny Rose (knee), Kieran Trippier (ankle) and Georges-Kevin Nkoudou (foot) are all missing injured. |
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COVERAGE :
TV For coverage in all parts of the world, check here and here.
Radio : If
available on BBC radio, it can supposedly be heard
in these countries on these stations ...
Internet : |
Newcastle United
0 (0) Premier League Sunday 13th August 2017 St. James' Park |
Tottenham Hotspur 2 (0) Kick off 13:30 |
Goal-scorers | |
None |
Dele 60m 20s Davies 69m 35s |
Cards | |
Ritchie (foul on Dele) 51
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Kane (foul on Lejeune) 31 Davies (foul on Manquillo) 86
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Crowd : 52,077 | Weather : Sunny, warm |
Referee : Andre Marriner (West Midlands) | Assistant Referees : Mr. S. Beck; Mr. S. Ledger |
Fourth Official : Kevin Friend | |
Tottenham kicked off and played towards the Gallowgate end in the first half. | |
Game time : - 90 + 6 minutes. |
Newcastle United : | kit | Tottenham Hotspur : | kit |
1
Rob ELLIOT
19
Javier MANQUILLO
8
Jonjo SHELVEY
11
Matt RITCHIE
Unused subs: |
1
Hugo LLORIS (c)
37
Kyle WALKER-PETERS
19
Mousa DEMBELE (29
Harry WINKS 82)
17
Moussa SISSOKO (
7
Heung-Min SON 58) 10 Harry KANE
Unused subs: |
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Manager : Rafael Benitez | Manager : Mauricio Pochettino | ||
Sponsor : Fun88 | Shirt sponsor : AIA | ||
Kit Supplier : Puma | Kit Supplier : Nike | ||
Match report With what was nothing less than an uncontroversial sending off by the captain of Newcastle the game was more or less handed to Spurs, with a 2-0 saunter in the second half starting the new campaign with a win. Tried to test out KWP early on, but held off Perez, who fouled him. The home team set up to pressure Spurs at start and we were not very good at holding onto possession in the first five minutes, with predictable booing for Sissoko having deserted the Toon, but KWP got some too when he didn't put the ball out as a Newcastle player was injured. Gayle sliced a good opening way over the top and then Spurs broke clear with Eriksen and Kane combining on the left, but he couldn't pick out Moussa Sissoko in the clear in the box, with the ball going out for a corner. While the ball was out Dummett fell to the floor and went off with just seven minutes gone, being replaced by Jamaal Lascelles.
Ciaran Clark needlessly bundled over KWP on the right touchline and Eriksen's free-kick wasn't really read by Kane, who was hit by the ball and it dropped softly in front of Elliot. The home crowd had been quiet, apart from their booing, but got liveley when Lascelles won a tackle through Dele and then the players chest bumped, bringing Marriner to speak to them both. A good cross by KWP went into the air and Elliot claimed it before throwing out quickly and Newcastle won a corner, but from it Tottenham broke with Lloris being the one to throw it out quickly and Eriksen tried to put Dembele in, but got a rebound and shot just wide across the goal. The Magpies had a few corners as they tried to get down the wings, but failed to make much of them. Kane picked up a yellow card for a tackle on Lejeune, while other harsher challenges had gone without a free-kick. The French defender limped off and had to be replaced by Mbemba. The game went into a lull and it was Eriksen who woke things up with a shot from outside the box after playing a one-two with Sissoko, bringing a diving save from Elliot. Both line-ups that trudged
off at half-time returned for the re-start. That didn't last for
long, as Dele conceded a foul, but as he lay on the floor, Shelvey
decided to stamp on his ankle. He was surprised to see a red card
and Benitez was up in arms, as he should be, but with his captain
rather than the officials. Newcastle were looking to make up for
their loss in numbers, as Atsu went down the left and the ball fell
for Gayle, whose shot was pushed wide for a corner by Hugo at his
near post. Tottenham broke and the ball broke for Kane, dropping to
him in the box around the penalty spot, but he was denied at point
blank range by Elliot. Ritchie was lucky not to see red, when he
took Dele down as he ran away from him, but Marriner produced a
yellow card. The home fans showed their ignorance by booing
Dele because he got stamped on and got fouled. Their Son made a surprise appearance, coming on for Sissoko, much to the delight of the petty Toon fans ... who even booed him when he guided Eriksen's delightful cross past Elliot on the volley. It had been coming, but when it did, it was a nice bit of creativity by |Christian to set up Dele for the volleyed finish. Tottenham were looking to cash in and Eriksen got in on the left, but scuffed his shot. Eriksen was involved when he and Dele linked, with Christian getting a bounce off a defender and then running the ball in the box into Davies' path, for the left back to stroke the ball under Elliot to make it 2-0 with 70 minutes on the clock. Everyone was enjoying the sun and wanting to get in on the action, with Dier trying a shot from outside the box, but it caught a Newcastle foot and spun just wide. While Tottenham held possession, when Newcastle got it, there was the embarrassing sight of Matt Ritchie throwing himself to the ground and pleading for a yellow card on every challenge. Atsu took a more footballing approach to trying to get Newcastle in the game and ran at the defence, before putting in a low shot from left to right, but Lloris was behind it all the way. He almost got on the end of a low cross in front of the face of the goal, but KWP got in a challenge and Atsu shot into the side netting from the left of the goal. Newcastle finally got what
they wanted from the game, with Davies getting cautioned for an
innocuous leg across Manquillo, but from the free-kick it fell to
Clark on the volley, but he put a weak effort straight at goal, but
high and above Lloris's head, making it easy for him to catch. The
game was played to a conclusion with the ball being knocked around
at a reasonably leisurely pace and only when Son put Three points on opening day
is a good start and with some work behind the scenes off the pitch
and a continued level of performance on it next week, our position
after the transfer widow closes could be a better one than the last
few seasons. Peter Jones |
PUB
FACT*
With a shout of "Haway The
Lads" it was likely that Terry Ferrier and Bob Ferris were watching
Newcastle in another mid-1960s defeat. It was no laughing
matter. |
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What you thought | |
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Other scores during this week : | ||||
Arsenal | 4 | Leicester City | 3 | Friday |
Brighton & Hove Albion | 0 | Manchester City | 2 | Saturday |
Chelsea | 2 | Burnley | 3 | Saturday |
Crystal Palace | 0 | Huddersfield Town | 3 | Saturday |
Everton | 1 | Stoke City | 0 | Saturday |
Southampton | 0 | Swansea City | 0 | Saturday |
Watford | 3 | Liverpool | 3 | Saturday |
West Bromwich Albion | 1 | Bournemouth | 0 | Saturday |
Manchester United | 4 | West Ham United London | 0 | Sunday |
League Table 2017-18 | |||||||||
P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | GD | ||
1 | Manchester United | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | +4 |
2 | Huddersfield Town | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | +3 |
3 | Manchester City | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | +2 |
4 | TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | +2 |
5 | Arsenal | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 3 | +1 |
6 | Burnley | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 3 | +1 |
7 | Everton | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | +1 |
8 | West Bromwich Albion | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | +1 |
9 | Liverpool | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
10 | Watford | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
11 | Southampton | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
12 | Swansea City | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
13 | Leicester City | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | -1 |
14 | Chelsea | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | -1 |
15 | Bournemouth | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -1 |
16 | Stoke City | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -1 |
17 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | -2 |
18 | Newcastle United | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | -2 |
19 | Crystal Palace | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | -3 |
20 | West Ham United London | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | -4 |
Position before match :
13th
Position after match : 3rd
Position after the weekend : 4th
* Pub facts may not actually be true, but after a few pints everyone might think so.