Tottenham Hotspur got the new season underway with a hard-earned win against Newcastle at St James’ Park. They won by two goals to one and without Harry Kane getting his name on the scoresheet.
Spurs Get Hard-Earned Win Over Newcastle
Their two goals came courtesy of Jan Vertonghen and Dele Alli in a what turned out to be a mad 18 minutes that also saw Newcastle’s Spanish forward José Luis Mato Sanmartín, more commonly known simply as Joselu, score the Geordie’s single goal.
Pochettino Backs Kane to Score
Despite Harry Kane not scoring, Mauricio Pochettino is backing him 100%, saying that he is actually in great form. He spent much of the game in a slightly deeper role, helping to create chances rather than finishing them off himself. The manager is confident that we will soon be back on the goal trail.
Spurs have come under some criticism from fans for their lack of activity during the transfer window. Nonetheless, the team they fielded boasted five players who appeared in the World Cup in July. They played even though they only resumed training since their exertions for their countries, on Monday; something that delighted manager Mauricio Pochettino.
It has to be said that Tottenham were hard-pressed to hang on to their lead. Newcastle’s Mohamed Diame and Salomon Rondon were denied by the woodwork in the second half as the Londoners began to flag.
Pochettino paid tribute to Newcastle’s endeavours, saying that they were excellent opponents who created scoring chances on more than one occasion. But as he said, very often in the game of football it is not only skill and perseverance that counts; you need some luck too, luck which saw the Spurs crossbar and post come to their rescue.
Spurs Fielded Five World Cup Stars
The Spurs manager also made reference to his five World Cup stars only recently returning to training, telling Sky News how proud he was of the team’s performance in the circumstances.
Tottenham, who played their home games at Wembley last season, are looking forward to inhabiting their new stadium soon. However, their first home game (against Fulham on the 18th of August) will be held at Wembley. You can check out who plays who in the first ten matches of the new season by clicking here.
Spurs then have two away fixtures against Manchester United on the 25th of August and Watford of the 1st of September before their next home game against Liverpool on the 15th September; this to be played at the new stadium.
Predictions For the New Season
As the new season in the Premiership gets underway, speculation is, as usual, rife about who will top the table and who will be for the drop. For a bit of fun, the so-called supercomputer at the talksport.com website has run its predictions. It forecasts Manchester City to win, with Brighton, Huddersfield and Cardiff going down.
Of course, anything can and will happen as the season progresses, so predictions have to be taken with a pinch of salt.
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