Five reasons why Tottenham Hotspur are a dangerous side for Newcastle United to face on their day of celebration

Newcastle United welcome Tottenham Hotspur to St James’s Park, aiming to capitalise on the buzz around the city and secure their first win of the season.

Few games in recent memory have promised an atmosphere quite like we will see on Sunday. Maybe Rafa Benitez’s last home game against Liverpool, or the 5-1 win over Spurs could be two exceptions.

However, unlike that game in 2016, Tottenham will be no pushovers on Sunday and Nuno Espirito Santo’s men have a point to prove as they attempt to spoil the party at St James’s Park.

Here, we look at five reasons why Spurs will be a dangerous side to face on Sunday:

Dynamite start

Almost from the second Nuno took charge of Spurs, he faced an uphill battle as speculation surrounding Harry Kane’s future at the club refused to go away.

With a lot of his squad also featuring at the European Championships, it was an amazing achievement for Spurs to not only defeat Manchester City on the opening day, but to also win three straight games in August, putting them top of the table and earning Nuno the Manager of the Month.

They may have faltered recently, the nadir coming in their 3-1 North London derby hammering, but their start to the season should be a stark reminder that they still have great quality in their squad.

Harry Kane

Now you can take this one of two ways. If you’re a glass half full person, you could say that Kane’s struggles this season may benefit Newcastle on Sunday. However, if your glass is half empty, then you probably look at this and think it’s only a matter of time before England’s captain starts banging them in again - and Newcastle look like the perfect opposition to do that against.

Outperforming statistics

This season, Spurs are outperforming both Expected Goals For and Expected Goals Against (xG).

According to WyScout, they outscore their xG by 0.22 per game and concede 0.26 goals less than expected every game also.

These stats show that Nuno’s men are seemingly enjoying the ‘rub of the green’ recently and in a tight battle, it may come down to luck that decides the destination of the three points on Sunday.

History is on their side

Newcastle haven’t tasted victory in this fixture since 2016. Last season’s 2-2 draw courtesy of a late Joe Willock equaliser, ended a run of three defeats in a row against Spurs at St James’s Park.

In all, Newcastle have won one, drew one, and lost five of their last seven games at home against Spurs.

They rarely relinquish leads

Spurs have never trailed in any of their four Premier League victories so far this campaign.

Three 1-0 wins to open their account was supported by a 2-1 win over Aston Villa before the international break.

In that game, Spurs went ahead but were pegged back by Villa, however, this lasted only four minutes before Nuno’s men regained the lead.

If Newcastle are to be successful on Sunday, they can scarcely afford to give their opposition a head start.

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