Tottenham currently stand fifth in the Premier League table, following their recent 2-1 defeat to West Ham on Thursday evening.
Despite Tottenham’s high position in the table, the club have significantly declined in performance in the last month, with a form of four losses and one draw in their last five games.
This can be pinned down to the significant unavailable players that Spurs lost in their most recent match versus Chelsea, where the team had Destiny Udogie and Cristian Romero sent off in red cards incidents as well as injuries to key players such as James Maddison and Micky Van der Ven.
Romero was a crucial centre-back for Spurs, arguably being a cause for why the side lost their three consecutive matches versus Chelsea, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Aston Villa.
He showed his importance to the squad in this headed goal he scored on Thursday against West Ham.
Newcastle have crept closely behind Tottenham in seventh place with only one point less than Ange Postecoglou's side.
The Geordie team posses slightly better form that Spurs with one most recent loss, two wins, a loss and another win. Newcastle were withheld from progressing in the table, along with Tottenham, after Eddie Howe’s team lost 3-0 to Everton in their midweek match.
Newcastle have also been labelled as in “the title race” by various commentators, so pose great challenges to the North London team.
Formation and Lineup: Tottenham Hotspur
Ange Postecoglou usually plays a 4-2-3-1 formation and has continued to ever since Tottenham’s multitude of injuries and red cards accumulated in the Chelsea match last month.
It is likely that Romero will feature in Postecoglou’s weekend lineup, along with Destiny Udogie who featured in Tottenham’s game against Manchester City last week after returning from his one match ban in the Aston Villa game, as well as the midweek West Ham game.
It can also be expected that Guglielmo Vicario will start in Postecoglou’s side as he has played outstanding, featuring as one of Tottenham’s best players this season and acting as a sufficient replacement for Hugo Lloris so far in his Spurs career.
After starting for Spurs in almost every match this season, it is very likely that Pedro Porro will be significant in Tottenham’s defence.
With the ongoing absence of Micky Van de Ven until further notice due to a hamstring injury, Ben Davies will likely replace him as a centre-backs.
It is most certain that Yves Bissouma will feature in the starting lineup for the North London side. However with Pape Matar Sarr, Postecoglou revealed a few weeks ago that he has a slight knock injury, despite him being substituted on against West Ham - so it can be presumed that he may start to be phased into the starting lineup with substitutions.
In terms of injuries, James Maddison (Postecoglou’s typical main goal scorer along with Heung-Min Son) is still out injured until at least January. However, it is likely that Maddison will continue to be replaced by Giovani Lo Celso, especially after his exceptional performance against Aston Villa and Man City - scoring in both games.
Joining him in midfield is likely to be Brennan Johnson, who has proved to be an impressive summer signing for Spurs with such young talent at only 22 years of age.
It is up for debate whether Son will feature in the match this week as he was pictured crying in agony after limping off against West Ham. Son has been so heavily relied upon previously, and will continue to be at the forefront of Tottenham's attack if he is fit enough to play on Sunday.
Formation and Lineup: Newcastle United
Eddie Howe almost always plays a 4-3-3 formation with his squad, so that will be expected in the match against Spurs. Similarly to Tottenham, Newcastle also possess vital injured players who will miss out on the weekend head-to-head.
Callum Wilson will be Howe’s most crucial loss as their main goal scorer is out with a hamstring injury, however, Isak and Gordon have made sufficient goal scoring replacements for him whilst the striker recovers.
Nick Pope will also be a significant loss for Newcastle as they will have to adapt to playing Martin Dúbravka, who was substituted on for Pope in Newcastle’s Premier League clash against Manchester United last Saturday, after the goalkeeper picked up a shoulder injury.
Howe commented on the player’s injuries, stating: “It looks like a shoulder dislocation, which is a serious injury.”
As far as Howe’s defence is concerned, Kieran Trippier will most likely start for the side as he will be critical to keeping out the goalscoring threats of Tottenham. He is also, statistically, Newcastle’s best defender this season so Howe undoubtedly will not leave the right-back out of the side.
As seen in the last four Newcastle starting lineups, the Newcastle boss will more than likely play Jamaal Lascelles and Fabian Schär as the partnering centre-backs.
Despite Dan Burn being Newcastle’s typical man for the job of left-back, he is out injured with a back injury. Eddie Howe said: “Unfortunately, Dan will be out for some time.”
As a result, Howe has trialed different defenders since Burn became unavailable at the start of November, following a Premier League clash with Arsenal.
The Newcastle manager trialled Lewis Hall as a replacement left-back for his side in the matches against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League and the Premier League match away to Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium.
However, Newcastle lost both matches and ever since, Howe has started Tino Livramento alternatively. So it can be presumed that Eddie Howe will likely start him, opposed to Hall, against Spurs.
Livramento has recently been utilised as a wing-back, compared to the traditional winger position he usually plays which has changed the typical attacking midfield of Newcastle’s lineup.
Howe’s three midfielders of choice will most likely be Lewis Miley, Bruno Guimarães and Joelinton. If Joelinton were to feature in Newcastle’s front three then Joe Willock is a probable midfield replacement for the Brazilian winger.
Alexander Isak will likely play in the typical “No.9” position as the central striker, with Anthony Gordon on the right wing.
Miguel Almirón has been the only Newcastle attacking player who has remained in the side and his current position all season, despite Howe’s abundance of injuries and adaptions that the boss has had to make. Therefore, Spurs should definitely seek to defend against the threats Almirón poses to the North London team.
In 154 appearances, the right-winger has scored 22 goals in total for his club, with two this season.
Players to Watch: Tottenham Hotspur
Pedro Porro
According to the Premier League website, Pedro Porro is among the most consistent defenders in the 2023/24 season at both ends of the pitch, combining four assists with four clean sheets.
Porro has not suffered any injuries this season, unlike most of the Spurs squad, so has made an appearance in every game for Tottenham this season and been one of their most reliant defenders.
Giovani Lo Celso
Lo Celso had previous success in Tottenham’s main squad early in the 2020/21 season when his famous partnership with Heung-Min Son was known for posing a great threat to the top clubs in the league and helped Tottenham rise to first place by December 2020.
However, over the last two seasons, Giovani Lo Celso’s place at Tottenham has changed. After Antonio Conte began to play Lo Celso less in the 2021/22 season, he was sent to Villarreal for a season on loan - where he scored three goals in 38 appearances.
Under Postecoglou, Giovani Lo Celso has failed to make the first team squad until recently when Spurs have had to rearrange their side since James Maddison became injured after the Tottenham vs Chelsea game, last month.
Lo Celso has made three starting appearances for Spurs this season and scored in two consecutively against Manchester City and Aston Villa, performing in outstanding fashion for Postecoglou and he may convince Postecoglou to integrate him as a more permanent member of the first team.
Dejan Kulusevski
Kulusevski has probably been one of Tottenham’s most consistent attacking midfielder of the last two seasons. Since the start of the season, Dejan Kulusevski has had crucial goal contributions for Spurs, including a 100th-minute winner scored in stoppage time of the Sheffield United match in September to give Tottenham a 2-1 win.
Kulusevski scored his first headed goal for Tottenham on Sunday versus Man City, his fourth goal of this season, in which his total goals consist of both right and left footed shots - showing his diverse attributes to the club.
Players to Watch: Newcastle United
Kieran Trippier
Trippier has arguably been Newcastle’s best player for the last few years since he joined the club. Prior to this, Trippier served Atlético Madrid for three seasons between 2019-2022. Atlético signed Trippier from Spurs the summer after their famous 2018/19 Champions League campaign, in which the right-back scored two goals in 69 appearances for Tottenham - one less than his stats for Newcastle in 58 games.
This season for Newcastle, Trippier has made 41 key passes (almost seven times more than his fellow defensive teammates combined). He has also made six clean sheets and seven assists in 15 games this season.
Anthony Gordon
In the Premier League, Gordon has had 11 goal contributions this season, after signing from Everton at the start of this year. He faced his former club on Thursday evening.
The winger scored alongside Alexander Isak, another Newcastle attacking threat, in the team’s 4-1 win over Chelsea on 25th November.
Alexander Isak
Across all competitions, Isak has scored nine goals this season. He will be taking on his fellow international teammate, Kulusevski, in the clash where it is expected that they will both pose attacking threats to either side.
Since signing from Real Sociedad in the summer of last year, Isak has become one of Newcastle’s main threats. Isak’s last goal was scored in Newcastle’s 1-1 draw against PSG in the Champions League.
