Let’s face it, we really, REALLY haven’t missed Newcastle much in the Premier League, have we? I certainly haven’t gotten over The Loss That Shan’t Be Spoken Of at the end of 2015-16, and with my apologies to the fine folk at Coming Home Newcastle, I would’ve been quite content to see them stick around in the Championship with their good buddies Sunderland for a few more seasons.
But Toon is too big a club to stay down for long, and they’ve somehow managed to keep ahold of Rafa Benitez as they rejoin the Premier League. Newcastle is a bit of a mystery club, as all newly promoted sides are, but they aren’t one that many pundits are predicting to stay in or near the relegation zone next season.
Toon’s forward attack consists of Aleksandar Mitrovic and Dwight Gayle, the latter of whom exploded in the Championship last season, scoring 15 goals. Newcastle’s transfer window has been modest, but they did make the loan of Christian Atsu from Chelsea permanent, and he should be a potent attacking outlet on the left flank. Ayoze Perez is still hanging around, and DeAndre Yedlin — remember him? — is still very fast, though he’s dealing with an injury at present. Oh, and Newcastle still have Voldemort Jonjo Shelvey.
The big question is how Newcastle’s squad of Championship achievers will fare at home against a Spurs side that’s a bit banged up and has a big glaring hole at the right back position. Newcastle has been a been a bit of a bogey club for Spurs, and the two have split the last ten meetings 5-5, including... there I go, thinking of that match again.
With Chelsea at Wembley looming next weekend, Spurs would love to get off the mark quickly this season. A nice win at Toon would start things off nicely, don’t you think?
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