STAR FOOTBALL PREVIEW Sat: Tottenham v Newcastle

Roberto De Zerbi needs an improvement from his players when Newcastle visit Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this evening, writes WILLIAM KEDJANYI.

Both clubs go into matchday two under new stewardship, but it’s Roberto De Zerbi’s expensively assembled Spurs who found life considerably harder on the opening weekend than Matthias Jaissle’s Newcastle.

De Zerbi, backed heavily in the transfer market with the arrivals of Savio and a loan deal for Omar Marmoush, watched his new-look side fall 2-0 behind inside half an hour at Brentford and finish with a paltry 0.57 expected goals despite enjoying 59% of the ball — numbers that point to a team still finding its feet.

Jaissle’s Newcastle, by contrast, will have taken plenty of encouragement from a battling draw with Liverpool at St James’ Park, producing 1.57 xG from just 39% possession as Anthony Elanga and Yoane Wissa caused problems on the counter.

Tottenham v Newcastle
Premier League – Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
17:30 Sky Sports

LAST FIVE STATS

HEAD-TO-HEAD
DEC 2025 PREMIER LEAGUE Newcastle 2-2 Tottenham
OCT 2025 CARABAO CUP Newcastle 2-0 Tottenham
AUG 2025 FRIENDLY Tottenham 1-1 Newcastle
JAN 2025 PREMIER LEAGUE Tottenham 1-2 Newcastle
SEP 2024 PREMIER LEAGUE Newcastle 2-1 Tottenham

TOTTENHAM
AUG 2026 PREMIER LEAGUE Brentford 2-1 Tottenham
AUG 2026 FRIENDLY Tottenham 1-1 Newcastle
AUG 2026 FRIENDLY Bayern Munich 4-0 Tottenham
JUL 2026 FRIENDLY Arsenal 0-1 Tottenham
JUL 2026 FRIENDLY Tottenham 2-2 Wycombe

NEWCASTLE
AUG 2026 PREMIER LEAGUE Newcastle 1-1 Liverpool
AUG 2026 FRIENDLY Newcastle 0-2 Atletico Madrid
AUG 2026 FRIENDLY Newcastle 1-1 Espanyol
AUG 2026 FRIENDLY Tottenham 1-1 Newcastle
JUL 2026 FRIENDLY Celtic 4-0 Newcastle

⭐️ STARSPORTS.BET MATCH MARKETS ⭐️

Spurs are unsurprisingly 6/5 favourites to win their first home game of the season, but there’s more encouragement in the underlying numbers for the visitors than the bookmakers’ prices suggest.

Newcastle’s issue wasn’t creating chances against Liverpool, it was converting them — and with a defence at Brentford that shipped 2.98 xG of their own last week, in what was Spurs’ worst defensive round-one performance of the campaign, there should be gaps to exploit again here.

Mikey Moore has been one of the few bright sparks of De Zerbi’s early tenure, registering three shots and hitting the target with all three at Brentford, and he’s worth keeping onside in the goalscorer and shots markets regardless of the result. But with Newcastle building their game around Elanga’s pace in behind, and Spurs still bedding in a squad full of new faces, the visitors look well-priced to leave north London with something.

---

RECOMMENDED BETS
BACK Newcastle to win in 90 minutes 2pt at 21/10 (⭐ ? CLICK TO BET NOW)
BACK Newcastle Double Chance (Draw or Win) 3pts at 4/6 (⭐ ? CLICK TO BET NOW)

---

(AUGUST 2026): PROFIT/LOSS: +60.59 points

---

STAR PROMOTIONS