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By HARRY BAMFORTH and MATT BARLOW AT TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM and CRAIG HOPE AT TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM Published: 22: 00 AEDT, 4 January 2025 | Updated: 23: 59 AEDT, 4 January 2025 34 View comments Follow Mail Sport's coverage of the Premier League clash between Tottenham and Newcastle at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the live score, team news and latest updates.   By Harry Bamforth That's incredible defending from Anthony Gordon there. Timo Werner gets his skates on and starts racing away from the Newcastle defence - it looks like he is in. But Gordon somehow catches him up and with the help of Tino Livramento pinches the ball off him. Tottenham do win it back, but Pedro Porro blasts the ball into row z. By Harry Bamforth Ohhhhh. .. Dan Burn is really walking the line here. The Newcastle defender is already on a yellow and has just given a foul away for handball. I mean, it seems a little harsh as the replay shows it hit his sleeve, which isn't meant to be handball. Still, he can't give away too many fouls or he will be in trouble. By Harry Bamforth We have some respite. .. at last. Sven Botman gets wiped out and it means the players and the rest of us, can have a little breather. I certainly need it and I am just sat down. This has been relentless. By Harry Bamforth Brandon Austin comes up trumps for Tottenham! I feel like I had a bit of de ja vu there as Anthony Gordon is slid through down the left again. The first time he arrowed the ball low across Austin, but this time the goalkeeper is equal to his effort. He learned from the first one, I guess. By Craig Hope At Tottenham Hotspur Stadium By Harry Bamforth It was coming, it really was. The challenges have been flying in and Dan Burn is the unlucky player to pick up the first yellow. I say unlucky, but it's a deserved one as he wipes out Dominic Solanke as he sprints away on the break. Solanke is playing like a man who knows the England boss is watching. .. By Harry Bamforth This is starting to get tasty. .. Joelinton first gets away with a naughty little elbow, which looked intentional in my book. .. but I'm a pessimist. Moments later Radu Dragusin then clatters through the back of Alexander Isak. This game is well and truly alive. By Harry Bamforth Phoar, you can barely catch your breath here, this game is mental. Both sides are flying forward and once again Dominic Solanke is in a brilliant position to strike. He gets hold of the ball well on the edge of the area but Sven Botman does brilliantly to get a block in. Pape Sarr then has a dig from distance but it's easy for Martin Dubravka to collect. Crazy, truly crazy. By Harry Bamforth My word, this is utter carnage. I knew there would be goals but my word I didn't think we would get two inside six minutes. I have a feeling these won't be the only two either, this game is going to get pretty crazy. You've got to love it. By Harry Bamforth We knew there would be goals! If Thomas Tuchel wasn't smiling two minutes ago, I'm pretty sure he will be now as another Englishman finds the back of the net. This time it's Anthony Gordon at the other end as Bruno Guimaraes slides him in and he arrows the ball low past Brandon Austin. Tottenham are screaming for a handball from Joelinton in the build-up but as it's not directly involved in the goal, it still stands. What drama! By Harry Bamforth What a start for Tottenham! Dominic Solanke fires the hosts into an early lead and what a header it is from the striker. Pedro Porro whips it beautifully into the area and Solanke peels off the returning Sven Botman to meet it. He sends his header back where it came from and it finds the bottom corner. Thomas Tuchel will be happy with that. By Harry Bamforth Tino Livramento is down on the ground after 20 seconds and looks in real pain. He is rolling around in different directions and screaming while he does so. It looks as though he is winded by Lucas Bergvall after being shoved into him, and I can see why that would hurt. He isn't down for too long though and will be OK to continue. By Harry Bamforth The Newcastle team have their final huddle and Alexander \isak ends it with one hell of a roar. Does he think he is a lion or something? I mean, all it does show is that he is pumped up and that's a real worry for Tottenham. His counterpart Dominic Solanke then gets the game underway - let's hope it's a belter. By Harry Bamforth This does not feel like a lunchtime kick-off, which is a huge compliment to the fans. The Tottenham fans are trying to create an atmosphere as the two teams come out, they are making a fair bit of noise. Techno music then gets blasted out of the speakers which is right up my street, as you all know by now. It's getting me pumped up, so I bet it is having the same effect on the players out there. Well, I hope it does because then we will get a cracking game. By Harry Bamforth Curtis Davies, former Premier League defender, on BBC Radio 5 Live: By Harry Bamforth Guys, we can get excited now, kick-off is just 10 minutes away. Right now I feel like Dominic Solanke in this photo, I just want to sprint toward kick-off, if that makes any sense. Basically, I just wish time would hurry up. These are the days I think it would be good to have a fast-forward button on life and skip straight to kick-off. We don't have much longer to wait, though, which is good. By Harry Bamforth You know what time it is. .. Yep, once again our friends at Squawka have provided us all with a lovely little stat pack. Sorry it's later in the build-up than usual, that's on me. The stat that stands out to me is just how even the record is between the two sides in the Premier League era. Newcastle edge it by just one win, but it really is on a knife edge, isn't it? Will it be 26 a piece by the end of the day, or will Newcastle pull away? By Harry Bamforth The chase for the Champions League spots is well and truly on for Newcastle this season. Eddie Howe's side currently sit in fifth, just three points behind Chelsea who occupy the final qualifying spot. If they beat Tottenham today, the Magpies will move level on points with the Blues before they play Crystal Palace later. If you told me that could happen before Christmas, I probably would have laughed in your face. And that was only a couple of weeks ago - football is crazy. By Harry Bamforth I didn't think vapes were allowed in stadiums. .. Only joking, it's just so freezing in London that you can see your own breath. The last few days have been truly baltic in the capital, I have been wearing four to five layers it's been that cold. Any fans still on your way to the ground, wrap up. .. or else you'll regret it (not a threat, I swear). By Harry Bamforth When a team is in bad form they usually have to rely on home games to pick up points. That's certainly not the case for Tottenham though. Spurs are winless in five successive Premier League home games, drawing two and losing three. That's their worst run since they went eight matches without winning under Juande Ramos back in 2008. Tottenham fans heading to the stadium today will not be confident based on that statistic, that's for sure. Runs always have to come to an end, though. By Harry Bamforth Ange Postecoglou, Tottenham boss, speaking to TNT Sports: By Harry Bamforth There is going to be some added pressure for all the English players in action today. The new Three Lions boss, Thomas Tuchel, is making his first stop on his scouting mission at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium today. Who do you think he will be keeping an eye on? Dominic Solanke, Anthony Gordon, and Lewis Hall have to be top of his list, surely. .. I would have said James Maddison, but he won't get much of a chance to show what he is about as he is on the bench. I bet he is very annoyed about that - most would be. By Harry Bamforth Chris Sutton, It's All Kicking Off! co-host, on BBC Sport: By Harry Bamforth I am close to running out of superlatives to describe Alexander Isak. You know that we all have those players that we just adore watching? Well, Isak is mine. The Newcastle man plays with such elegance when on the ball and my word is he is clinical. I don't think I am wrong in saying that he is the best striker in the Premier League based on current form. I mean, the stats back it up. He has scored in his last six league games, netting eight times in them. He even scored more than Mo Salah in December, which is mental. The way he is playing at the moment and with how brittle Tottenham's defence is, it's hard to see him not scoring again today. Can he make it seven games on the spin? By Harry Bamforth I wonder how Brandon Austin is feeling right now. .. I expect there are a lot of nerves, nine years worth of them to be exact. Austin has been waiting patiently on the sidelines for his moment ever since joining Tottenham in 2015 as a youngster. Well, that patience has paid off - his time to shine has now come. He may have been given his opportunity because Fraser Forster is ill, but he needs to take it while he can. With Tottenham bringing in a new goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky, he could fall further down the pecking order. Well, unless he puts in a blinder of a display today. By Matt Barlow At Tottenham Hotspur Stadium By Harry Bamforth Newcastle fans, you must be buzzing. .. surely. The return of Sven Botman is absolutely huge, it really is. On his day, he is one of the best defenders in the league. He has been through hell and back this past year with the ACL injury that has kept him out since last March. As Craig said, we were expecting him to come back today in some capacity, but the fact he is starting is a shock, I have to say. It's a nice one for Eddie Howe though, and one he needed to happen after Fabian Schar picked up a suspension. It will be interesting to see if Botman can shake off the ring rust early. By Craig Hope At Tottenham Hotspur Stadium By Harry Bamforth Alan Shearer, former Newcastle striker, speaking to Betfair: By Harry Bamforth Now this is some big news! Nine years after joining the club, Brandon Austin starts between the sticks in a Tottenham shirt for the very first time. It seems Fraser Forster is one of the players out through illness, but the rest of the team is pretty strong. Djed Spence returns after suspension while Lucas Bergvall and Pape Sarr come into the midfield. Meanwhile, Son Heung-Min has been dropped. .. By Harry Bamforth Well, well, well. .. look who is back. After over nine months out with a serious knee injury, Sven Botman starts for Newcastle once again. He comes in for the suspended Fabian Schar while Tino Livramento starts at right-back. Other than that, it's as it was for Newcastle. By Harry Bamforth Spurs just can't catch a break, can they? Their squad has been ransacked by injury this season, with key players missing all over the pitch. So I bet Ange Postecoglou couldn't believe his luck when a sickness bug swept through his squad. Yesterday he confirmed that a few players missed training through illness, but didn't specify soon. We will find out when the team news comes out in a minute, I guess. By Harry Bamforth Eddie Howe, Newcastle boss, speaking on Friday: By Harry Bamforth Newcastle have been on absolute fire recently and no one can put them out. I'm sorry, that wasn't my best line, I'll be honest. But I'm sure you know what I mean, the Magpies have really sorted themselves out in the past month after a topsy-turvy start to the season. They have won four successive Premier League matches and only conceded one goal across them. Meanwhile, at the other end, they have been clinical, scoring 13 goals in that time. I have been covering them more regularly recently and my word they have been a joy to watch. They will be full of confidence heading to London, that's for sure. By Harry Bamforth Ange Postecoglou, Tottenham boss, speaking on Friday: By Harry Bamforth I bet we are all happy to see Tottenham back in the television… Why? Well, they always provide entertainment. I have seen Spurs fans complaining about that though, they are not enjoying being seen as neutral's favourite team. I mean, it’s easy to see why. While there are always goals when Tottenham take to the pitch, a lot of them have been coming from the opposition they are playing. Ange Postecoglou’s side have won just one of their last seven Premier League matches. Truly terrible form for a side of their calibre. Yes, they have been decimated by injuries, but the players they have been putting out on the pitch simply have to do more. Today they face a Newcastle side who are one of the most in-form teams in the division, it doesn’t get much tougher than this at the moment. If Spurs manage to get all three points today, it will be huge for their season, especially with the Carabao Cup semi-final against Liverpool coming up. Can they return to winning ways? By Harry Bamforth Well, this feels a little bit weird, doesn’t it? For me it certainly does. Over the Christmas period I didn’t even know what day it was, I just knew the football was on. But now the mince pies have been put away and Christmas trees are coming down all around the country. It’s time to get back to normality. There’s no need to be sad about it though because you still have us providing you with cracking coverage of the Premier League. Today we start in the capital as a struggling Tottenham take on high-flyers Newcastle in the lunchtime kick-off. With how the two teams have been playing lately, there should only be one winner… but football isn’t played on paper. I can’t wait any longer to get this one going, so let’s get cracking, eh? Published by Associated Newspapers Ltd Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group