Tottenham Hotspur vs Newcastle United Prediction: More pain for Postecoglou

The early game in the Premier League on Saturday (12:30, TNT Sports 1) sees Tottenham Hotspur host Newcastle United at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with the two teams in contrasting form; Spurs are winless in their last three while the Magpies have won their last four in the Premier League without conceding.

Read on for my Tottenham Hotspur vs Newcastle United prediction, complete with all the latest team news and match odds.

Team News

Tottenham Hotspur's treatment room remains busy, with Guglielmo Vicario, Micky van de Ven, Cristian Romero, Ben Davies, Wilson Odobert, and Richarlison all still injured. Destiny Udogie, who lasted just 50 minutes of his side's 2-2 draw with Wolves on December 29, was recently added to the list. The Italian left-back had to be replaced by forgotten man Sergio Reguilon.

Rodrigo Bentancur has only recently returned from a lengthy suspension but Spurs' opening goalscorer against the Old Gold picked up a late yellow card to earn himself a one-game ban for an accumulation of cautions in the competition.

Football Odds

Like Bentancur, Newcastle United defender Fabian Schar will serve a suspension for yellow cards having received his fifth of the campaign in the Magpies' 2-0 victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford on December 30. Lloyd Kelly is likely to replace the 33-year-old in Eddie Howe's starting XI on Saturday.

Aside from Schar, Nick Pope, Callum Wilson, Emil Krafth and Sven Botman are still unavailable, although the latter is back in training and nearing a first-team comeback. Kieran Trippier appeared to pick up a problem against Man United and was substituted in the 58th minute for Valentino Livramento, who will come in for the veteran right-back this weekend.

Tottenham Hotspur vs Newcastle United Odds

Tottenham have lost four of their last six Premier League matches and, therefore, are rightly billed as underdogs for this contest, with odds of 9/5 giving Ange Postecoglou's side an implied win probability of 35.7%. On the back of four consecutive league victories - five in all competitions - Newcastle are installed as 6/5 favourites (45.5%), with the draw priced at 11/4.

Both teams to score is available at 2/7 and over 2.5 total goals at 1/3, while Newcastle's Alexander Isak (4/5) and Spurs' Dominic Solanke (6/4) head the anytime goalscorer market.

Match Result & Both Teams to Score - Newcastle United & Yes @ 2/1

I like what Postecoglou is about, but there's no getting away from the fact that the Australian has been unable to inspire a turnaround amidst an injury crisis that has robbed him of his number-one goalkeeper and two first-choice central defenders, among others. Perhaps he has been left hamstrung by a threadbare squad but we have seen other managers, notably Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool last season, achieve big things without a host of first-team stars available.

The visit of Newcastle to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday is an unwelcome one if you are of a Spurs persuasion, given the Magpies' stunning form since mid-December. Howe's side have beaten Leicester City (4-0), Ipswich Town (0-4), Aston Villa (3-0) and Manchester United (0-2) in the Premier League since losing 4-2 on December 7 at Brentford, who they beat 3-1 in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals 11 days later.

Newcastle haven't conceded in the league since shipping four to the Bees nearly a month ago but the absence of Schar is sure to hurt them this weekend, so there are reasons for Spurs to be optimistic, especially as the Lilywhites have scored in four of their last five matches and nine of their 10 top-flight contests at home.

Defensive issues continue to plague Spurs, however, and they have shipped nine goals across their last three games and kept just one clean sheet in N17 all season - and that was in their first home game against Everton (4-0) on August 24. With the likes of Isak and Anthony Gordon in the Newcastle forward line, it's hard to see Spurs shutting out their visitors on Saturday, and in truth, I expect the Magpies to score two or three. The hosts can grab one themselves but, ultimately, I see a fairly routine victory for Newcastle.

Down the years, this a fixture dominated by goals - for both teams - as nine of the last 10 Premier League head-to-heads - including the last four at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium - have seen both teams score.

Bet Builder - Yves Bissouma (TOT) Carded, Dejan Kulusevski (TOT) 1+ Shots on Target, Sandro Tonali (NEW) 1+ Shots @ 13/2

With Bentancur unavailable for selection on Saturday, it's likely to be Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr picked by Postecoglou to hold the midfield fort, and the duo will have a big job on their hands to win the middle-of-the-park battle against Newcastle's three bruisers - Joelinton, Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes. 'Bruisers' might be a slightly unfair description given the technical talents of the Magpies trio, especially the latter two, but it also serves as a compliment to their physical traits that mark the Toon Army's midfield out as one of the strongest in the division.

Guimaraes, meanwhile, is the most fouled player in the Premier League this season - and by a considerable distance. The Brazilian has been upended 65 times (3.5 per game on average) with Spurs' James Maddison second in the list on 42 (Newcastle's Gordon is third on 41). Tonali (1.5p/g) and Joelinton (1.1p/g) are also fouled, on average, at least once a game, and with Bissouma averaging a foul per game - 1.2 last season - you get the feeling that there could be a few free-kicks on Saturday for Newcastle, particularly in midfield.

Bissouma kicked off December with two yellow cards in his first three games, earning a one-game suspension for a fifth of the campaign against Chelsea, but returned and managed to avoid any further cautions for the rest of the month, but he is averaging one every three matches in the Premier League this term and is probably due another soon. He received 10 yellows and two reds in 28 league appearances last season and is on eight yellows in all competitions for Spurs in 2024/25.

The 28-year-old has played Newcastle 11 times in his career and has been shown five yellows and one red; a card on Saturday would make it three on the bounce against the Magpies, and with Guimaraes & Co. lining up at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, you'd have to think it's a real possibility.

I'm also adding in a shot on target for Spurs star Dejan Kulusevski who is averaging 0.6 per game in this season's competition and either scored or forced a save from the goalkeeper in five consecutive Premier League appearances before blanking against Nottingham Forest and Wolves at the end of the month. I'm backing the Swede to get back in the groove this weekend and at least register a shot on target against a Magpies defence missing number-one shot-stopper Pope and centre-back Schar.

Ending this Bet Builder is Magpies midfielder Tonali who, despite playing deeper recently, is still managing to fire shots off. The Italian has tried his luck at least once in his previous six Premier League appearances, shooting twice last time out at Old Trafford and bagging a brace in Newcastle's Carabao Cup success over Brentford on December 18 (shooting five times in total). Against Spurs, who concede shots for fun, I'd expect Tonali to shoot at least once.

Offers

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