Venue: Wembley Stadium
Kick off: 1:30PM
Newcastle United will be aiming to make it two big scalps in a matter of days as they take on Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley Stadium this afternoon.
The Magpies stunned champions Manchester City on Tuesday evening and now head to the capital for a showdown with Mauricio Pochettino’s third-placed side.
Rafael Benitez saw his side claim a gutsy 2-1 win over champions Man City on Tuesday to further ease their relegation concerns.
United have now won back-to-back matches in the top flight, having also cruised to a 3-0 win against fellow strugglers Cardiff City, leaving them five points clear of the dropzone.
Prior to the Cardiff match, the Magpies were in the bottom three and fan anger towards owner Mike Ashley had ramped up a few notches. Helped by those two league wins on the spin, though, and talk of a club-record deal for Miguel Almiron being pushed through before Thursday night‘s transfer deadline, supporters appear to be back onside again.
Benitez’s charges have just two more fixtures against top-six sides to navigate following today’s meeting with Spurs – a trip to Arsenal on March 30 and a home match against Liverpool on May 5.
Getting any points on the board this afternoon may be too much of an ask, however, as they have collected just 12 points from their last 21 Premier League visits to the capital, though half of those have come against Tottenham.
Meanwhile, a response was needed from Tottenham in midweek and Pochettino got it – just! The Lilywhites headed into their home match with Watford on the back of two cup exits in the space of three days to derail their campaign.
Spurs lost on penalties to Chelsea after playing out a 2-2 draw in their EFL Cup semi-final, before then losing 2-0 at another London rival in Crystal Palace to drop out of the FA Cup at the fourth-round stage.
A 2-1 comeback win over Watford on Wednesday ensures that the Lilywhites are just about in the title mix, with late goals from Son Heung-min and Fernando Llorente lifting Spurs to within two points of Man City and within seven points of leaders Liverpool.
With Tottenham playing before Liverpool and Man City this afternoon, there is a chance to further increase the pressure on the two sides above them.
Despite their recent cup disappointment, Pochettino’s men have won back-to-back matches in the Premier League, recovering from a goal down to beat Fulham and Watford 2-1 – never before in the competition have they won three in a row after conceding first.
Spurs have lost just one of their last 26 home Premier League games in February, meanwhile, and they have won 18 of those since a 4-0 defeat to Manchester United in 2007.
Three more points at Wembley today and only a fool would write off Tottenham’s chances of overhauling a stuttering Liverpool side. In Pochettino’s eyes that, and not a domestic cup triumph, is the real aim for his side.
Tottenham possible XI: Lloris, Alderweireld, Sanchez, Vertonghen, Trippier, Sissoko, Dier, Eriksen, Rose, Llorente, Son.
Newcastle possible XI: Dubravka, Yedlin, Schar, Lascelles, Lejeune, Ritchie, Perez, Hayden, Longstaff, Atsu, Rondon.