Newcastle United are licking their wounds after a humbling 3-0 setback against Aston Villa but this Sunday's clash with Tottenham Hotspur provides the perfect opportunity to bounce back. The north London outfit failed to close the gap to the Magpies over the weekend and continue to stumble at almost every turn in their pursuit of a top four finish.
Spurs opened the scoring at home to Bournemouth on Saturday before conceding twice amid a dismal display. Arnaut Danjuma thought he'd rescued a point for Cristian Stellini's side in the 89th-minute before Bournemouth's Dango Ouattara netted a last minute winner for the visitors.
It has been a disastrous campaign for Tottenham, who sacked Antonio Conte last month after a tumultuous tenure, and Saturday's defeat was another low point.
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Tottenham are currently without defenders Ryan Sessegnon and Ben Davies through injury, while Clement Lenglet was withdrawn during the first-half against the Cherries. His replacement, Davinson Sanchez, was greeted by a smattering of boos from his own fans before even entering the field of play and was roundly booed off 23 minutes later as he himself was substituted.
Sanchez looked shaky from the start, undercooking a pass to Pedro Porro three minutes after coming on, allowing Bournemouth to equalise. A disastrous showing saw him swiftly taken out of the firing line by Stellini in the second-half. Porro also deactivated his social media accounts following a wave of abuse after the game.
"I've never seen this in my career," Lloris told beIN Sports. "I feel really bad for Davinson. He's a team-mate, he's a friend and he's been fighting for the club for many, many years now.
"It's just sad. The story is sad for the club, for the fans, for the player. It's something you don't want to see in football."
Tottenham's defensive issues can play into Newcastle's hands this weekend with Alexander Isak and Callum Wilson both in fine form in recent weeks. The former was given the nod at Villa Park on Saturday, with Wilson introduced early in the second-half.
There is debate among Newcastle fans over whether both men should be used from the outset together. Eddie Howe will no doubt be pondering if this weekend is the perfect time to try and exploit a fragile Spurs defence.
"Very tough decisions at the moment, we’ve got two outstanding strikers," the Newcastle boss said after choosing to start Isak. "I think Alex’s run of form going back six weeks now is excellent, he scored goals, he’s created goals, and he just gets the nod today in terms of those decisions really.
"It’s healthy at the moment. They understand the situation that we haven’t really wanted to change the shape at the start of the game but we can do it in running.
"We can get them both together on the pitch at the same time. I’m excited to have that versatility and that choice because I haven’t had that all season - they’re two huge players for us."
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