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Tottenham Hotspur face Newcastle United in North London this weekend.
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Tottenham Hotspur have had hopes of beating in-form Newcastle United this weekend boosted by news that the Magpies will travel to London without defensive linchpin Fabian Schar.
The 33-year-old is a mainstay in the Tyneside club's defence, having only missed two Premier League fixtures so far this season due to a red card picked up in the first outing of the campaign. Newcastle United have won their last four fixtures in a row with Schar playing every minute of those matches.
The centre-back has helped his side to four clean sheets in those outings, the most recent success coming on Monday night as Eddie Howe's men beat Manchester United 2-0 at Old Trafford. While there were celebrations for that result and another shut-out, it did come with a team selection blow ahead of facing Spurs.
Premier League yellow card rule hits Newcastle United man
Schar picked up his fifth yellow card of the season in the 80th minute for a foul on Red Devils forward Rasmus Hojlund. Having already been cautioned against Manchester City, Everton, Chelsea and Arsenal, that means a one match ban for the player.
The defender had gone without a booking since the start of November but his fifth yellow comes in the 19th league match for Newcastle United. The count for yellow cards accumulated only resets after the 19th fixture, which marks the halfway point in the season.
That means that Howe will not be able to select Schar for the trip to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Newcastle United will go into that match as strong favourites given their recent run of form, while an inconsistent Spurs have lost two and drawn one in their last three.
Attack certainly remains the best form of defence for Ange Postecoglou with the Australian's side bagging 14 goals in their last five. A Magpies defence without Schar will no doubt make the London outfit think there are more goals to be had in Saturday's early kick off.
Eddie Howe to be without ‘absolute class’ defender
Howe has readily praised Schar over 2024 and labelled the player a 'one-off' in March thanks to his ball playing ability. He said: "There won't be many centre-halves like Fabi. He is a total one-off.
"He is a very good defender. When he is absolutely concentrated and really well trained, he's as good a defender as I've seen. He reads the game really well and the amount of interceptions he makes is second to none.
"The two passes today were... Maybe the first one is slightly easier than the second one. The second one I don't think anyone in the stadium maybe saw - maybe Tino did because he's made the run and he probably knows that Fabi's capable of playing it, but two moments of absolute class."
Tottenham Hotspur last met Newcastle United in September at St James' Park with the hosts running out 2-1 winners in that clash. Harvey Barnes opened the scoring for the Magpies with a Dan Burn own goal levelling the scores shortly after half time. The prolific Alexander Isak then found the back of the net with just over 10 minutes left to play to ensure all three points stayed on Tyneside.