Spurs Take Top-four Target to St. James’ Park
Tottenham Hotspur will endeavour to consolidate their place in the top four of the Premier League when they travel to St James’ Park to lock horns with European hopefuls, Newcastle United today’s lunchtime
The Magpies will be seeking revenge after they were put to the sword 4-1 by Spurs in the reverse fixture in North London four months ago.
After entering March’s international break with back-to-back defeats, Newcastle United have since collected seven points from their last three Premier League fixtures to boost their chances of securing at least a top-seven finish.
The Magpies were held to a 1-1 at home against Everton just a few days after claiming a thrilling 4-3 comeback victory over West Ham United, but they returned to winning ways last weekend when they edged past Fulham by a 1-0 scoreline at Craven Cottage.
Bruno Guimaraes scored nine minutes from time on his 100th appearance for Newcastle to secure maximum points for Eddie Howe’s side, who sit eighth in the top-flight standings and just one point behind seventh-placed West Ham United, who have played a game more.
Newcastle, who are looking to win consecutive league games for the first time since December, will welcome a return to St James’ Park where they are unbeaten in their last five matches, scoring 14 goals in the process.
The Magpies will reminisce about their last home meeting with Spurs in April 2023 when they thumped the North Londoners 6-1, leading 3-0 after just nine minutes and 5-0 within the first 21 minutes. Repeating that success will be a tall order, but Tottenham’s recent away record – just two wins in their last nine – bodes well for Howe and co ahead of Saturday’s contest.
Although their form on the road is a cause for concern, Tottenham have now won eight of their last nine Premier League home games in North London, including last weekend’s 3-1 success over Nottingham Forest.
Spurs were made to work for all three points against a spirited Forest outfit and were forced to enter half time level after their opener – an own goal from Murillo – was cancelled out by Chris Wood. However, defensive duo Micky van de Ven and Pedro Porro scored within the space of six second-half minutes to fire the Lilywhites to an important victory.
Tottenham have now scored 11 Premier League goals through defenders so far this term, the joint-most in the division alongside rivals Arsenal, and their win over Forest helped them leapfrog Aston Villa into fourth spot, now sitting above the fifth-placed Villains on goal difference with a game in hand.
With just seven games left to play, Ange Postecoglou has reiterated his stance that he “couldn’t care less” about the race for fourth spot and instead wants to see signs of improvement in his squad, who are now gearing up for a challenging set of fixtures against Newcastle, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City.
Victory over Newcastle, whom they have beaten in four of their last six visits to St James’ Park, would provide Spurs with a huge boost ahead of a 15-day break in preparation for a potentially pivotal North London derby on home soil on April 28.
Meanwhile, four days on from their Champions League thriller in Madrid, Manchester City return to Premier League action when they face Luton
Town at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The Citizens claimed an emphatic 6-2 away victory over the Hatters in the FA Cup just under two months ago, with Erling Haaland scoring five goals at Kenilworth Road. Encounters between Man City and Real Madrid never cease to amaze and the football world was blessed with another absorbing goal-laden showdown between the two clubs on
Tuesday when they shared the spoils in a rollercoaster 3-3 draw in the first
leg of their Champions League quarter-final at the Santiago Bernabeu. Three seems to be the magic number for Pep Guardiola’s side; not only did they score three Champions League goals for the ninth successive game in midweek, but they also remain on course to retain each of the three trophies they lifted during a
historic treble-winning campaign in 2022-23, although they are part of a three-way tussle for the Premier League title this time around and currently sit third in the table. With both second-placed Liverpool and leaders, Arsenal playing on Sunday, Man City can momentarily climb to the Premier League summit and two points clear of their rivals with victory today against a Luton side whom they have already beaten twice away from home this season by an aggregate
score of 8-3. A 2-1 win at Luton on December 12 began the Citizens’ current 16-game unbeaten run in the top flight, including 12 victories and four draws, and they will be confident of further success today as they make a welcomed return to the Etihad where they have not lost any of their last 40 games across all competitions, just two short of an all-time club record of 42 set between December 1919 and November 1921. Luton’s 10-game winless run in the Premier League, including seven defeats and three draws, came to an end last weekend when they secured a 2-1 comeback victory at home to Bournemouth.
