Postecoglou to give 3 Spurs changes vs Newcastle as undroppable star benched

In preparation for Saturday’s Premier League match against Newcastle United, we examine the lineup alterations that Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou may implement.

Almost exactly a year has passed since Newcastle United humiliated Tottenham at St. James’ Park. After Antonio Conte left Spurs a few weeks ago, Cristian Stellini took over as manager. They trailed 3-0 after nine minutes, and the game was effectively gone.

In the first twenty-one minutes of the contest, Newcastle fell five goals down. Harry Kane scored just after halftime to make it 2-1, but Callum Wilson scored again to put Newcastle back in front.

The Lilywhites will be aiming to rectify the mistakes they made on their last visit to Newcastle this weekend when they go to the northeast. This game had significant consequences for Tottenham’s failure to qualify for Europe.

With Eddie Howe’s squad on the field in Saturday morning’s early kickoff, Tottenham has a chance to bolster their Champions League credentials before Aston Villa’s match against Arsenal the following day.

After beating Nottingham Forest 3-1 last weekend, Tottenham will be feeling confident heading into this game. They could really need a victory to go back-to-back, especially with upcoming matches against Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, and Chelsea.

With Saturday’s match against Newcastle United scheduled to begin at 12:30pm, may Ange Postecoglou make any changes to Tottenham’s starting lineup? Below, football.london examines three potential changes.

Yves Bissouma has been an untouchable for Postecoglou’s Tottenham starting eleven all season, but he may finally get his chance to start on the bench against Newcastle. Halftime in the match against Nottingham Forest, the Mali international was hooked because he has not been able to regain the stellar performance he showed in the early part of the season.

After coming in as a substitute after halftime, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg dominated play in the center of the field. Everyone could tell that the former Southampton player had the experience and acumen to help Spurs reclaim control of the midfield and win the game.

Although Hojbjerg has struggled to get any playing time this season for Tottenham, he will likely start against Newcastle United for Postecoglou’s starting lineup. Assuming that is true, he will want to ensure that Tottenham continues to play like that for the rest of the season so that they can qualify for the Champions League in 2024–25.

At halftime against Nottingham Forest, Tottenham added Rodrigo Bentancur in place of Pape Matar Sarr, adding to the lineup that included Victor Hojbjerg. Spurs’ No. 30 has been in and out of the lineup, alternating with Pape Matar Sarr on occasion, although the Dane has struggled to get consistent minutes in the last several months.

Bentancur came on in the second half for Sarr since the former wasn’t performing up to par against Forest. Spurs won thanks in large part to the Uruguayan’s tenacity and enthusiasm, and he also contributed an assist for Pedro Porro’s goal with a clever move into the penalty area.

After sustaining an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury at Leicester City fourteen months ago, Bentancur is still attempting to return to his peak performance, and next season might be the year he finally does it. If selected to play on Tyneside, he will be determined to continue his strong performance from the previous match against Nottingham Forest and put himself in a great position to start against the Magpies.

Johnson has been excellent for Tottenham recently, and if given another chance, he may have scored a goal and assisted on another in the match against his old team. Unfortunately, Kulusevski hasn’t exactly been shining as of late, so the Swede may sit on the bench again this weekend.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply