Newcastle United vs. Tottenham Hotspur Preview: Sinking inevitability

Four straight winless results has Tottenham Hotspur down to 12th in the Premier League table, with echoes of last season getting louder and louder. Cries for Thomas Frank’s head have turned from over-reactionary to deafening, and it unfortunately seems like this saga can only end one way. If Frank wants to save his job, he will need to turn things around quickly, which is quite the ask at this moment.

Spurs travel to Newcastle Tuesday to face a club that has provided them nothing but trouble over the past three seasons. Should that match turn up empty, Frank gets to face his old employer amidst a home environment that will be anything but favorable. The Champions League continues after that, where anything other than three points would be a complete disaster. Good luck!

Match Details

Date: Tuesday, December 1Time: 3:15 pm ET, 8:15 pm UKLocation: St James’ Park, Newcastle upon TyneTV: NBCSN/Peacock (US), Sky Sports Premier League (UK)Table: Newcastle (t-12th, 18 pts), Spurs (t-12th, 18 pts)

These sides met just over a month ago at this exact venue, as Newcastle claimed a 2-0 victory in the Fourth Round of the League Cup behind goals from Fabian Schar and Nick Woltemade. That was remarkably the club’s sixth win over Spurs since the 2022/23 season, with no side outside the traditional Big Six causing this much difficulty. While the pair are level on points right now, their trajectories feel very divergent.

Three Big Questions

Will the dumb mistakes end? No one would accuse the Tottenham defense of playing particularly well, but it is extremely frustrating just how many of the goals recently have felt avoidable and/or self-inflicted. Under Ange Postecoglou, the thinking was that the way the players were asked to play led to an increased number of critical errors, but clearly no such excuse (should) exist this time.

Newcastle is just league-average in goals and xG, but has scored 10 in its last five matches across all competitions. Harvey Barnes has four of those and is tied for the team lead in scoring with the newcomer Woltemade, who scored against Spurs back in October. Tottenham absolutely must make the home side work for its chances; giving away needless turnovers will instantly doom this outing like many before it.

Can the attack find some rhythm? On the other end, Spurs have obviously struggled to generate its own scoring, but there were some nice moves against PSG and a quality finish by Mohammed Kudus over the weekend. The chances are limited and the fluidity is mostly lacking, but the — blissfully foolish — optimist could point to some positives over the past couple matches, even in losses.

Randal Kolo Muani seems to be at least a part of this rejuvenation, with cameos from Wilson Odobert, Lucas Bergvall, and Kudus leaving good impressions even during this steady decline. While Newcastle boasts the third-lowest xGA in the league, three of the last four fixtures have seen its opponents top the 2.0 xG mark. That sort of outing would be rare for Tottenham, having reached it just twice all season, but maybe things are finally starting to click up top.

What else can Frank do? I am not sure Frank cares too much about supporters’ opinion of him (well, he definitely cares about some aspects…), but there is no world in which he is satisfied with the performances that his players have been putting up. To his credit, he has rotated a bunch and tried out a couple different formations, though the problem has yet to be solved.

Short of a January transfer window miracle, I am not exactly sure what else can be done, but this is Frank’s chance to show his ability. Newcastle away is terrible proposition for Spurs, but that makes the upside all the greater should he be able to figure something out. Continue struggling, though, and there might not be a way to stop the criticism and discourse, which is going to lead to messy ending.