Big Match Breakdown: Newcastle United v Tottenham Hotspur

Preview, odd and tips for Premier League clash

The Premier League’s first round of Saturday matches gets underway with an intriguing clash between Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur at St James’ Park.

Both sides have had a far from ideal summer in the transfer market. But results on the pitch are what matters now as the two clubs meet for a 12:30pm kick-off live on Sky Sports Main Event.

The Coral News Team have previewed the match with a Big Match Breakdown.

Head-to-Head

These two have made a habit of bookending the season against each other. And Spurs have made a habit of taking all three points too. They triumphed 1-0 in the penultimate fixture of last season and 2-0 on the opening day up on Tyneside.

In fact, the Lilywhites have won seven of the last 12 head-to-head clashes, including three of their last four in the North East. Newcastle’s 5-1 success on the final day of the 2015-16 season is the only outlier.

Likely XIs

Rafael Benitez could hand debuts to Ki Sung-yeung, Fabian Schar and Salomon Rondon. Kenedy is also expected to start, while Martin Dubravka should overcome injury to play.

Mauricio Pochettino could be missing as many as 16 members of his squad for this one due to a mix of injury and players returning late from the World Cup. That could mean starts for Fernando Llorente, Lucas Moura and Kyle Walker-Peters among others. Christian Eriksen and Son Heung-Min will be pivotal in a 4-2-3-1 formation.

Key Battles

Newcastle perfected the art of containment at home last season. They’ll be implementing a similar tactic this afternoon. Expect Kenedy and Matt Ritchie’s pace to be key with Jonjo Shelvey feeding target man Rondon. His physical presence should cause problems for the often rash Davinson Sanchez.