Newcastle United v Tottenham Hotspur preview

Newcastle United

It will be hard for Newcastle to replicate the form of last season. 5th place was a fantastic finish for Alan Pardew’s men but with both Chelsea and Liverpool strengthening well over the summer, it looks like it’ll be a big ask for them to hit the same levels of success. They do however, possess a fine team and despite not signing too many players over the summer, the Toon Army will be delighted that they have managed to keep key players such as Hatem Ben Arfa, Yohann Cabaye and Senegalese strike duo Papiss Cisse and Demba Ba at the club. Both Cisse and Ba were prolific last season, although Ba’s decline in form after Cisse’s arrival will concern supporters. Signing Ajax’s Vurnon Anita was a smart bit of business from Pardew – a player who can more than hold his own at left back and in central midfield. The Magpie’s other main summer signing was midfielder Romain Amalfitano, an attacking midfielder that joined on a free from Stade de Reims. He becomes the seventh French player on Newcastle’s books at the moment. Worryingly for the Geordies though, there are fitness doubts over Ba, Cisse, Cabaye and Ben Arfa – arguably their four best players.

Tottenham Hotspur

Not many fans expected the departure of Harry Redknapp after another top 4 finish, but here we are at the beginning of the 2012/13 campaign with Andre Villas-Boas at the helm. The Luka Modric saga is one that has dragged on all summer, but he finally seems set to finalise his £30 million departure to La Liga giants Real Madrid. Villas-Boas has bought well in Jan Vertonghen and Gylffi Sigurdsson but there appears to be an alarmingly small amount of firepower up front. Experienced England striker Jermain Defoe appears to be the only established Premier League striker in the squad. They were unable to tie up a deal for Emmanuel Adebayor and unless they can bring in a prolific forward, you worry about where the goals are going to come from.

Match Prediction: Draw – 3.00 at William Hill

Both teams to score – 1.67 at William Hill

Emmanuel Adebayor was arguably the missing link for Spurs last season; a consistent striker that can put the ball in the back of the net. He will need to be replaced, however I can still see goals here. There were 9 scored over the two games between these sides last season and both teams to score seems to be a good bet to me. It will be hard to separate two sides that finished just one place apart last season. Spurs have failed to win at Newcastle in their last six outings there however if the home sides injury worries are confirmed it could be a different story for travelling supporters.

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