Tottenham Hotspur will be making the trip to Newcastle United this Sunday as they return from the international break. What is the team news looking like ahead of this game? (For the starting XI prediction go here)
Despite crashing out of the Europa League, Spurs are in not too bad of a position as far as the Premier League is concerned. They should be confident of getting a win here as they take on a team that is hovering just above the relegation zone at the moment.
There are a couple of absentees that the North Londoners will have to contend with though. Ben Davies had to withdraw from international duty with Wales, due to an unspecified injury and it is unclear as to when he will be back. It was described as “significant,” so that’s not good.
Another player who might be missing is full back Matt Doherty, who got injured (also unspecified) during a match with Ireland this international period. As for players getting fit and making their return to the team, there is good news surrounding the availability of Heung-min Son, Toby Alderweireld and Serge Aurier.
Also, Erik Lamela will be back in action after completing his suspension.
This gives Jose Mourinho the chance to select a strong team that will give Spurs hopes of getting their front four into the game. If they are able to do that, then it becomes easy for them to breach the hosts’ defence.
The one aspect that the visitors will have to be very wary of is being/staying alert at the back. This has cost them a lot this season and they’ll need to prevent that from happening here. Newcastle do have some attackers that are capable of creating chances, so the Spurs back line will have to be alert to deal with this.
This Sunday should be a relatively easy game, given the form that the hosts currently find themselves in. It will be a surprise if the three points don’t return to London. There is still plenty of football left to be played and finishing the season on a strong note would mean the north London side could then enter next season with a lot of confidence.