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2022/23 English Premier League
Matchday 32
Newcastle United v Tottenham Hotspur
St James' Park
Newcastle upon Tyne, England
Sunday, 23 April 2023
Kick-off is at 15h00
Newcastle will look to cement their place in the
Premier League's top four when they welcome fellow UEFA Champions League hopefuls Tottenham to St James' Park on Sunday, April 23.
The Magpies boosted their chances of qualifying for Europe's elite club competition after embarking on a five-match winning streak to overtake Manchester United into third place.
However, Eddie Howe's side slumped to a disappointing 3-0 defeat to Aston Villa at Villa Park last Saturday to drop back to fourth position, three points behind the Red Devils, who beat Nottingham Forest 2-0 the following day.
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The Tynesiders still hold a three-point advantage over Spurs (5th) with a game in hand after the north Londoners also lost 3-2 against Bournemouth in the capital at the weekend.
Aston Villa (6th) have entered the race for European football after stringing together a run of five successive wins to close within six points of the FA Cup finalists.
Cristian Stellini's team saw a four-match unbeaten run come to an end at the hands of the Cherries and they will be desperately seeking a response on Tyneside.
Alexander Isak made a promising start to his Newcastle career, scoring two goals in his first three games before a hamstring injury sidelined him for three months. The Swedish striker has had an impact on the team since his return in January, bagging six goals in his last 11 appearances to keep Callum Wilson out of the starting line-up.
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Son Heung-Min has struggled to replicate the form that saw him jointly win the Golden Boot last season after scoring 23 goals. The South Korean winger has only managed to find the back of the net eight times in 29 outings this term but scored in each of his last two games against Brighton and Bournemouth.
In team news, the hosts are missing just two players in Allan Saint-Maximin (thigh) and Emil Krafth (knee), while the visitors have a lengthy injury list to contend with, which sees Emerson Royal, Rodrigo Bentancur (both knee), Ryan Sessegnon, Ben Davies (both thigh), Yves Bissouma (ankle) and Clement Lenglet (muscular) miss the long trip to the north-east. Lucas Moura is suspended.
Howe wants to see a reaction from his players after acknowledging they were no match for Villa on the day, describing it as their most disappointing outing of the campaign.
"Yes I think it probably was [our worst performance of the season], we weren't great today, hugely disappointing in a big fixture," he said. "But the lads have been so consistent through the season these things can happen, we just now need to focus on the response.
"In all disciplines [we] were slightly off our best and we were punished by a very good team. In every aspect it was unlike us, we were wasteful with the ball and out of possession we weren't as solid and tight as we have been.
"It is just a disappointing day, one we have to analyse, but put to bed quickly. At this stage of the season with so few games to go you have to focus on what's ahead rather than what's gone. It was a tough afternoon."
Stellini felt Tottenham deserved to come away with all three points against Bournemouth after 'giving their all', with his only criticism that they didn't score more than the two goals.
"We gave everything, the players today have to go home with no regrets after this type of game because they pushed a lot. The only question they have to ask themselves is not to play two games in one, play only one game," the Italian told SPURSPLAY.
"When we scored, again, we dropped too much and we allowed the opponent to score two goals, not one. To recover, that is very difficult. We did, because we gave everything and we had the opportunity to win, as well, with Richarlison.
"It's very difficult, because we deserved it and we had the chances to do it, when you don't create the chances, you can say, 'okay, we weren't good enough', but we were good enough, because we scored the second goal, and we had a great chance with Richarlison."
Head-to-Head (Last Five Premier League Meetings)
Matches - 5
Newcastle - 1
Tottenham - 2
Draws - 2
Matchday 32 fixtures:
Friday, April 21
21h00: Arsenal v Southampton
Saturday, April 22
13h30: Fulham v Leeds United
16h00: Brentford v Aston Villa
16h00: Crystal Palace v Everton
16h00: Leicester City v Wolverhampton Wanderers
16h00: Liverpool v Nottingham Forest
Sunday, April 23
15h00: Bournemouth v West Ham United
15h00: Newcastle United v Tottenham Hotspur
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