Tottenham Hotspur Vs Newcastle United |
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Date:
Sunday 10th April 2005
Kick Off: 4.05pm BST
Venue: White Hart Lane
Ref: Steve Bennett (Orpington)
Comp: Premiership |
| Match Preview
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After Thursday's win in Europe United turn their attentions back to
the League where wins have been scarce, especially on the road. A
2-0 win over Crystal Palace back in November 2003 was the last time
Newcastle won on away soil in the Premiership and tomorrow, they'll
be looking to make it a double in London as they take on Tottenham
Hotspur at White Hart Lane.
Not a great hunting ground for the troops in Black & White but
we do have two wins at the Lane in the last 5 visits and if we are
to rescue anything from our League campaign, namely a European qualification
spot, we simply have to win.
Given favourable results today (9th), Graeme Souness' men could go
as high as 8th in the table with a victory over the entertaining,
and amiable Martin Jol's side. Spurs themselves will be looking to
exact some revenge over our rather fortuitous FA Cup Quarter-Final
victory a few weeks back which many predicted ended their season.
But they lie just 6 points off 6th place with a game in hand and a
win over Newcastle is a must if they are to move in on that all important
UEFA Cup place.
With United missing Dyer, Bowyer and Taylor through suspension for
their red cards at St. James' Park in the 3-0 defeat to Villa as well
as injury concerns over Given, Babayaro, Ameobi and Kluivert, Spurs
will fancy their chances but they too have injury concerns of their
own and neither side will be fielding their strongest 11.
A win for Spurs would bring a premature end to our League campaign.
A win for United could well see us fighting it out on 3 fronts for
the first time in our history.
More...
Behind
Enemy Lines: The View From A Tottenham Hotspur Fan
Harper |
Carr |
Boumsong |
O'Brien |
Hughes |
Jenas |
Butt |
Faye |
Robert |
| |
Shearer |
Ameobi |
|
Jean-Alain Boumsong vs Jermaine Defoe
You'd imagine with Defoe having bags of pace that Souness will put
Boumsong on him as Defoe will be Tottenham's most dangerous player
and this is a key battle. If we are to get anything out of the game
the Frenchman needs to snuff out the England striker. Physically this
isn't a contest and pace wise, Boumsong will be more than able to
keep up with him. Hopefully he can come out on top in this one.
Stephen Carr vs Andy Reid
Team-mates at international level this will be the first time the
pair have came up against each other, training aside. Reid is new
to the Premiership but he is a willing runner and has a great left
foot. Carr will have to force him inside onto his right and when the
Spurs winger does get to the byline, it's important that our right-back
cuts those crosses out because the London side will represent a danger
in the air.
Alan Shearer vs Ledley King
Just how refreshed the Captain is after Thursday's tough match against
Sporting Lisbon, remains to be seen but he's going to have to put
in another physical performance if he is to get the better of King
who can stroll through games when on form. King's main weakness as
I see it is he can panic when he doesn't have space and time. This
will be a key battle from an attacking sense.
Laurent Robert vs Stephen Kelly
Kelly, a promising right-back has had a good season and looks assured
whenever he has played and if Robert doesn't get at his man from the
off and stick at it, the youngster will be in for a comfortable game.
Wet behind the ears Robert needs to exert pressure on the full-back
and to get behind him. Take him on, run him ragged and we will get
joy.
| NUFC Squad News &
Pre-Match Reaction |
Stephen Carr on his return to White Hart Lane:
"I'm looking forward to going back there, I have
a lot of happy memories from my time with Spurs and this was a game
I looked for when I moved up here.
"But that's all forgotton now, as the Spurs fans have proved.
"I'm focused on doing well for Newcastle now, and if I get booed then
it won't bother me. At least the Newcastle fans in the ground will
be cheering for me.
"Spurs are a well organised side, Martin Jol has got them playing
well.
"We were unlucky against them in the league right at the start of
the season, but they'll feel they were unlucky when we beat them in
the FA Cup because we got a bit of luck that day.
"It all evens itself out though, so it'll be interesting to see how
things work out on Sunday.
"Prior to the game against Aston Villa last week we had just lost
one in 11, but we got that game out of our systems by beating Sporting
Lisbon.
"Saturday was one of those days. We gave away two penalties, we didn't
take our chances, and we were punished. I think the incident at the
end just about summed our afternoon up!
"But we got a win against Lisbon, and kept a clean sheet into the
bargain. We'd have taken that before the game, and now we're back
on track hopefully we can keep it going on Sunday at White Hart Lane."
United
squad:
Given, Harper, Caig, Carr, Hughes, Babayaro, Elliott, Boumsong, O'Brien,
Ramage, Robert, Butt, Faye, Jenas, Milner, N'Zogbia, Ambrose, Shearer,
Ameobi, Kluivert.
Keiron Dyer, Lee Bowyer and Steven Taylor are all suspended while
Shay Given (hip), Shola Ameobi (hip), Patrick Kluivert (knee) and
Celestine Babayaro (knee) are all fitness doubts.
| Spurs Squad News &
Pre-Match Reaction |
Martin Jol on the match:
"Newcastle seem to have a good spirit and sometimes you need a bit
of tension to get better as a team.
"I don't think we have an advantage because they played on Thursday.
They have three days to recover and they are a quality team.
"But we play at home, that is an advantage. We beat them at St. James'
Park in the first game of the season and were better that them in
the FA Cup (even though Tottenham lost).
We are above them in the league and we know that when we have a good
team."
Michael Carrick on the match:
"There is good confidence and belief among the lads at the moment
and we are in the mix for a Euro spot.
"We know we have to pick up the points if we want European football,
otherwise it is not going to be there for us.
"It's going to be a big game all right. We played some good stuff
at Birmingham and we want to continue that against Newcastle."
Spurs Squad:
Robinson, Cerny, Kelly, Gardner, King, Naybet, Edman, Dawson, Davies,
Davis, Ziegler, Brown, Carrick, Defoe, Keane, Kanoute, Mido.
Nourredine Naybet (hamstring), Anthony Gardner (foot), Simon Davies
(calf) and Reto Ziegler (hamstring) are all doubts while Thimotee
Atouba is suspended and Noe Pamarot (knee) sits this one out.
Steve Bennett
In the 9 Newcastle games in which the Orpington born official Steve
bennett has refereed United have lost two, drew 3
and won 4. Bennett was the man in the middle at the Riverside on the
opening day of the season, failing to spot Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink's
equaliser which he punched into the net.
| Last Season (at White Hart
Lane) |
Spurs 1-0 NUFC (Premiership: 14th March 2004)
An 86th minute own goal from Andy O'Brien handed Tottenham all 3 points
in last season's fixture at White Hart Lane. The game was a scrappy
affair where neither side looked capable of winning but just as United's
luck would have it on the road, the Toon gifted the home side the
win.
Teams...
Spurs: Keller, Carr, Taricco, Doherty, Gardner, King, Brown,
Keane, Ziege (Dalmat 80), Kanoute (Redknapp 70), Defoe. Subs not used:
Hirschfeld, Postiga, Kelly.
United: Given, O'Brien, Hughes (Ameobi 89), Woodgate,
Bernard, Jenas, Speed, Bowyer, (Ambrose 75), Robert, Shearer, Bellamy.
Subs not used: Elliott, Harper, Viana.
Attendance: 36,033
Referee: Howard Webb
| Last 5 Meetings (at White
Hart Lane - all competitions) |
| Date |
Score |
Comp |
Toon Scorers |
| 14/3/2004 |
Lost 1-0 |
Premiership |
|
| 29/1/2003 |
Won 1-0 |
Premiership |
Jenas |
| 30/1/2002 |
Won 3-1 |
Premiership |
Acuna, Shearer, Bellamy |
| 20//2001 |
Lost 4-2 |
Premiership |
Solano, Dyer (pen) |
| 12/11/1999 |
Drew 1-1 |
FA Cup R3 |
Speed |
| |
Newcastle United wins |
Draws |
Spurs
Wins |
| League |
41 |
28 |
58 |
| FA Cup |
2 |
2 |
5 |
| League Cup |
1 |
0 |
1 |
| Other |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| Total |
56 |
30 |
47 |
| Form Guide (League &
Cups) |
| Newcastle |
Spurs |
| Opposition |
V |
Result |
Opposition |
V |
Result |
| Sporting Lisbon |
H |
W 1-0 |
Birmingham City |
A |
D 1-1 |
| Aston Villa |
H |
L 3-0 |
Man City |
H |
W 2-1 |
| Portsmouth |
A |
D 1-1 |
Charlton Athletic |
A |
L 2-0 |
| Olympiakos |
H |
W 4-0 |
Newcastle United |
A |
L 1-0 |
| Tottenham Hotspur |
H |
W 1-0 |
Southampton |
A |
L 1-0 |
| Olympiakos |
A |
W 3-1 |
Nottingham Forest |
A |
W 3-0 |
| Liverpool |
H |
W 1-0 |
Fulham |
H |
W 2-0 |
| Bolton |
H |
W 2-1 |
Nottingham Forest |
H |
D 1-1 |
| Heerenveen |
H |
W 2-1 |
West Bromwich Albion |
H |
W 3-1 |
| Chelsea |
H |
W 1-0 |
Portsmouth |
H |
W 3-1 |
| *Last
10 matches in all competitions. Keys: V
= Venue L = Loss W
= Win D = Draw |
Like Newcastle Spurs are a strange side who play well one game and
then poor the next. Both sides have their match winners and this game
could go either way. I expect a high scoring exciting game. I reckon
we'll win 3-2, why not... Come on Newcastle! |
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