Newcastle v Tottenham preview

Tottenham make the long trip to the North East on Sunday as they travel to Tyneside to take on Newcastle.

The sides are level on points and goal difference in the Premier League table, with The Magpies currently lying one place ahead in 14th.

Spurs come into this game off the back of a nervy 2-2 draw with Spartak Moscow on Thursday, a result which secured their passage to the last 32 of the Uefa Cup where they will meet Shakhtar Donetsk. In contrast, The Magpies have had a full week to recover and prepare following their morale-boosting 3-0 win away at Portsmouth.

Michael Owen was on the scoresheet at Fratton Park and in the striker Newcastle have a man who has scored four goals in his last five Premier League appearances. Added to that the fact that The Magpies have won their last five Premier League games against Tottenham – scoring 16 goals in the process – Joe Kinnear’s side will enter this game in buoyant mood. Spurs’ last three league trips to St James' Park have ended in 3-1 defeats, and the two sides have not drawn in the league since April 1999.

Spurs can take some hope from their Carling Cup win at St James’ Park earlier this season, but with Kinnear having instilled an organisation in Newcastle that has yielded three clean sheets in their last four games as well as an unbeaten run of five games, the signs look good for the hosts.

For the home side, Obafemi Martins has been bothered by a groin injury of late and will undergo a fitness test, while Joey Barton (knee), Alan Smith (foot) and Igancio Gonzalez (Achilles) are all still sidelined.

Spurs will have to run late fitness tests on four players: Ledley King (knee) and Jonathan Woodgate (back) are both struggling and missed the Spartak game, while Luka Modric tweaked a hamstring in the draw and Aaron Lennon aggravated his groin. Darren Bent is still an absence with tonsillitis while Jermaine Jenas remains out with a calf problem. Alan Hutton is a long-term absentee and Giovani dos Santos is still recovering from an ankle sprain.

PIVOTAL PLAYER: Michael Owen. In fine goalscoring form and who would bet against him continuing his run which has seen him claim three in his last two games? Every time Owen has scored against Spurs in the Premier League (five games) his team have won.

Prediction: 2-1.

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