Newcastle United will look to earn a positive result against Tottenham at St. James’ Park on opening day.
Newcastle United are back in top flight action tomorrow as they host Tottenham at St. James’ Park. Both clubs have faced their fair share of criticism this summer. On one end, Newcastle’s owner has been ridiculed for refusing to invest sufficient funds into the club.
On the other end, Tottenham’s manager, Mauricio Pochettino, has been criticized for remaining inactive all summer while other top six sides added new talent. A negative result for either club will be of some significance as it would only add more fuel to the fire of summer criticism.
Kick-off is set for 12:30PM and the atmosphere is expected to be booming with support for the Magpies raining down the stands. Newcastle will use all of the support they can get tomorrow as Tottenham displayed their quality last season when they earned a third place finish with 77 points.
👀 Take a look behind the scenes at today's training session, as @salorondon23 and Yoshinori Mutō prepared for Saturday's game against @SpursOfficial and @nobbysolanouk4 paid a visit to United's Benton base. #NUFC pic.twitter.com/7IHCSNCh0H
— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) August 8, 2018
Newcastle supporters are anxiously waiting to see what formation and lineup Rafa Benitez will deploy to start the 2018-19 Premier League campaign. Will Benitez go with a 4-2-3-1 formation or will he look to attack with both Salomon Rondon and Yoshinori Muto in a 4-4-2?
Will Fabian Schar start over Ciaran Clark to fill the void of the injured Florian Lejeune? Who will Jonjo Shelvey have alongside him in the middle of the park? All of these different factors will impact the outcome of the match.
An Unpredictable Newcastle
It will be difficult for Tottenham to properly analyze Newcastle for the match tomorrow. With seven signings this summer, Newcastle will have at least one new face in defense, midfield and up top. The new-look Magpies will need some time to develop proper chemistry, and two of Newcastle’s newcomers will need to time to adapt to English football after arriving from Germany and Spain.
However, the majority of the squad remains unchanged and they know what it takes to be competitive in matches against superior opponents. Newcastle’s core players are well aware of what they have to bring to the table against a Tottenham side that defeated them twice last season.
Final Note
Newcastle are set to take the field for the second consecutive season in the top flight and they have will a difficult opponent from the start. While most pundits and media outlets predict Newcastle will stay up, the Magpies have found themselves on a few lists that place them among the bottom three. Newcastle will have to find a way to balance defensive caution with offensive urgency to prove that they should not be relegation favorites this season.
Tottenham are a dangerous side loaded with offensive threats in midfield and on the front-line. In order for Newcastle to earn a positive result on opening day, they must maintain composure and mitigate unforced errors.