Chronicle Live

Toon fans braved the icy conditions and took a trip down south on Saturday as Newcastle United took on Tottenham Hotspur.

And it was certainly worth the trip as the Magpies continued their stellar form and beat Spurs 1-2 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Eddie Howe's side had won five on the bounce in all competitions, keeping four consecutive clean sheets in the process. They visited a Spurs side majorly depleted with a host of injuries, one big suspension and a bug spreading through the camp.

The win certainly warmed up the travelling fans in London and everyone was in good spirits as the final whistle blew. Here are 25 pictures of Toon fans celebrating Saturday's win:

Video Loading

Video Unavailable

Click to playTap to play

The video will auto-play soon8Cancel

Play now

Newcastle United will brave the storms this weekend as they travel to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium looking to continue their stellar form of recent weeks.

Eddie Howe's side have won five on the bounce in all competitions, keeping four consecutive clean sheets in the process. They visit a Spurs side majorly depleted with a host of injuries, one big suspension and a bug spreading through the camp.

Newcastle are poised to bring Sven Botman in after the Dutchman's recovery from an ACL injury, with Howe facing a tough decision as to who starts alongside Fabian Schar on the right-side of central defence.

We'll bring you all the build up, early team news, live match coverage and post-match analysis right here throughout the morning and afternoon so stick with us.

Key Events

Newcastle team news!11:15

Under way in the capital

Right let's keep this fine form going, eh Newcastle?

We're off and running in North London.

Kick-off moments away

Players in the tunnel, Tuchel in the stands, Seven Nation Army blasting out over the speakers and kick-off moments away!

He's back!

What a sight that is...

Conditions pitchside

I've just been pitchside and it's 1 °C down there! The likes of Les Ferdinand, Tim Sherwood and Alan Shearer all wrapped up as they prepare for pundit duties.

Newcastle wearing their maroon and blue hoops today! Fond memories of a David Ginola goal at the old White Hart Lane in those colours for fans.

Martin Dubravka: 'It couldn't be better here'

I feel great, the Newcastle United goalkeeper told TNT Sports. We have had a couple of good results. We have momentum so I feel great.

It's not only about the clean sheets, but we are playing well, we are playing entertaining football, creating chances, scoring goals. It couldn't be better here.

A gentle reminder

A 5-0 win today [not out of the question, by the way] will see Newcastle jump from 5th to 4th in the Premier League.....

Two local lads

Geordie royalty in attendance in the capital...

Eddie Howe explains Sven Botman decision

Delighted to have him back, the Newcastle United boss told TNT Sports. He's an outstanding player. When we lost him last year, that was a really bleak moment for us because we had injuries in quite a lot of positions and then we lost him and he was our stalwart at the back.

He's worked incredibly hard. He's gone through a long road to get back. He's done a lot of training. He's played games. I think he's ready to play. It's always a difficult decision because you have to leave other players out, but I think Sven deserves to play.

This Spurs team....

Son and Maddison benched, Austin making his PL debut in between the sticks and key men ruled out through injury, illness or suspension. Safe to say confidence is high for Newcastle - but what about from Spurs' side?......

"Couldn't have less interest in today's game. That isn't the Spurs team. That's the Vietnam summer tour XI with 11 changes at halftime."

"Just really really bad. Hopefully they perform but could take an absolute battering today"

"Why has this game not been postponed?!"

Alexander Isak and Co will be licking their lips

What a game for Spurs' third-choice goalkeeper, Brandon Austin, to make his competitive first-team debut for the club in.

Injuries, illness and suspensions have ripped through this Spurs side and it is a very different XI to the one which lined up at St James' Park back in September. Remarkably, Pedro Porro and Radu Dragusin are the only survivors from the back five (goalkeeper and defenders) that started that day.

Given the form Newcastle's rapid front three are in - Alexander Isak, Anthony Gordon and Jacob Murphy have been directly involved in 19 goals in their last five games - they will surely be licking their lips.

Botman returns!

The full story as Eddie Howe throws the Dutchman in from the outset.

Read it here

Tottenham team news

Wow. A heavily depleted Tottenham squad, hit with injuries, suspension and illnes...

Spurs XI: Austin, Porro, Drăgușin, Gray, Spence, Sarr, Bergvall, Johnson, Kulusevski, Werner, Solanke

Subs: Whiteman, Reguilón, Dorrington, Hardy, Bissouma, Maddison, Olusesi, Son, Lankshear

A huge boost for Newcastle United

It says a lot about the condition Sven Botman is in and the qualities he has that Eddie Howe has thrown the Newcastle United defender in from the off in a game of this magnitude - nearly a year after the Dutchman's last first-team appearance.

Botman's return from injury is a huge boost for Newcastle - potentially the closest thing the Magpies will have to the cliched 'new signing' this month - and this will enable the centre-back to bed back in ahead of Tuesday night's Carabao Cup semi-final first-leg at Arsenal.

Newcastle subs

NUFC bench: Vlachodimos, Trippier, Barnes, Osula, Almiron, Kelly, Willock, Longstaff, Miley

Newcastle team news!

NUFC XI: Dubravka, Livramento, Botman, Burn, Hall; Tonali, Bruno, Joelinton; Gordon, Murphy, Isak.

This feels like a real opportunity for Newcastle United

There looks set to be some big-name absences in the Spurs side when the team sheets drop - and that is before you factor in how a sickness bug has ripped through the camp. That's why this feels like a real opportunity for Newcastle United.

The Magpies are flying at the moment as Eddie Howe's team look to lay down another marker against a member of the established order on the road following Monday night's win at Old Trafford.

Newcastle last won here when the black-and-whites qualified for the Champions League a couple of seasons ago. They could underline their credentials once again today.

Ange Postecoglou tribute to Eddie Howe in programme

Ange Postecoglou has endured his fair share of critics in recent weeks with Spurs all over the place defensively.

Postecoglou says: "Eddie has done an outstanding job since taking over in 2021. Taking them from a relegation battle to the Champions League.

"As one of the Premier League's form teams, we know how much of a threat Newcastle will pose. We played well at St James' Park back in August and felt that on another day we could have been coming away from the North-East with three points."

Botman returns?

Newcastle United star Sven Botman could be about to return from the start for the Magpies this afternoon.

The Dutchman, who last featured competively in March, is fit and raring to go after behind closed doors games and one run out for the under-21 side.

With Fabian Schar suspended, don't be surpised to see him thrown back in this afternoon.

Mood in the Press room ahead of the game

It's a plush Press room here at Spurs and on the menu today is hot coffee and eggs benedict! There's a real anticipation for an entertaining match in the air given the defensive woes of Spurs and attacking successes of Newcastle.

As I walked into the room today, I was greeted by one of the greatest Entertainers of them all: Sir Les Ferdinand. Obviously, the former number 9 has had a foot in both camps but loved his time on Tyneside, so maybe he will take a high-scoring draw!

Also on media duty today is former Newcastle and England defender Stuart Pearce for Talksport. It's a bit of an A-Z of 90s footballers in the room with Italia 90 star Paul Parker, ex-Aston Villa skipper Andy Townsend and BBC Newcastle's John Anderson all here.

Lee Ryder's preview

This has been a happy hunting ground for Newcastle over the years...

A miserable day in the capital

Hopefully Newcastle can brighten their day with three points...

Travel chaos

You can follow live updates here as Newcastle United fans face major delays after an incident on the train lines.

NUFC notes

A bumper edition this morning!

Martin Dubravka opens up on his future

Three first-team stars set for contract talks

Kevin Keegan's open invite at Newcastle United

Read it all here

In-form Newcastle United will face a Tottenham side struggling for confidence as they get their 2025 under way in North London on Saturday lunchtime - but with manager Ange Postecoglou adamant they are close to getting things right.

While United signed off 2024 with a strong 2-0 victory at Manchester United to extend their winning run to five games, Spurs were left frustrated by a 2-2 home draw with Wolves. The result left Tottenham in the bottom half of the table at the halfway stage, the same number of points away from the relegation places as they are the top four.

The pressure is beginning to build on Postecoglou, although a crippling injury crisis has given the Australian a valid reason as to why they are failing to match last season's success. And as they look to welcome Newcastle to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, he sounded a defiant note on their future ambitions.

“It’s still fairly tight," he said. "I just feel that at some point we’ll get a relatively healthy squad and when we do that, we’ll be able to perform at a high level consistently. We’ve already shown this year we can beat anyone.

"There’s a chance there you can go on a run, but at the moment that’s secondary to the first bit. I can see how hard they’re trying and if we were at our sharpest, we would have got that third goal and maybe a fourth (against Wolves).

“I mean we were inches away at times from getting the goal we needed and I think we’re just lacking a little bit of that dynamic movement that we need. A lot of these guys, they’re finding some form of energy to still be out there trying, but you know we’re certainly not as sharp as we can be.”

Spurs will take full advantage of a rare free midweek to give the players some rest and relaxation, something which is not often possible durning a season with European football - and it's something Postecoglou feels will make a difference.

“It was always planned," he said of the break. "We kind of knew this is the first week where we don’t have a midweek game, so I think the whole group probably needs a couple of days just to get away from everything and recover."

Newcastle United will face a Tottenham side without a Premier League win in their last FIVE games on home soil when they head to North London on Saturday.

Eddie Howe's side get 2025 under way with a game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in front of the TNT Sports cameras for the weekend's 12.30pm early kick-off. However, Ange Postecoglou is under growing pressure at Spurs after his side could only manager a 2-2 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday.

Jorgen Strand Larsen struck in the 87th minute to earn Wolves a point and continue new manager Vitor Pereira's unbeaten start. It had looked as though Spurs had done enough for the win, after Rodrigo Bentancur had cancelled out Hwang Hee-chan's fine opener for Wolves. Brennan Johnson then scored in first-half stoppage time after Son Heung-min had a penalty saved by Jose Sa to put the hosts' in control.

However, Strand Larsen's late goal meant an injury-hit Tottenham had to settle for a point, with their form at home now a growing concern for fans ahead of Newcastle's visit. Spurs have not won at home in the Premier League since a 4-1 victory over Aston Villa on November 3.

While they have recorded a Carabao Cup win over Manchester United, Postecoglou's side have lost 6-3 to Liverpool, 4-3 to Chelsea and 2-1 to Ipswich, while they have drawn with Fulham, Roma and now Wolves.

Newcastle's away form has been a source of concern at times over the past 12 months, but they ended the year with a 4-0 win at Ipswich Town and a 2-0 success at Manchester United. They've also picked up three points at second-placed Nottingham Forest and have only lost three Premier League away games to date, to sit fifth in the 'away' league table.

United have more points on the road (15) than Spurs do at home (14), although Eddie Howe and Co will be keen to erase painful memories of last season's 4-1 defeat at Tottenham,

Tottenham have been dealt a double blow ahead of their Premier League game with Newcastle United on Saturday, with TWO more players ruled out.

Ange Postecoglou's squad is already severely stretched, but he saw defender Destiny Udogie limp out of Sunday's 2-2 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers with a hamstring problem, while Rodrigo Bentancur will be suspended after picking up five yellow cards. Spurs are already down to the bare bones at the back, with Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven are long-term absentees while Ben Davies faces another couple of weeks on the sidelines.

First-half goals by Rodrigo Bentancur and Brennan Johnson cancelled out Hwang Hee-chan's brilliant opener for Wolves, but a late Jorgen Strand Larsen goal with three minutes left to ensured the spoils were shared in north London.

Postecoglou refused to be too hard on his players, who will get two days off with Spurs set to have a rare clear midweek ahead of Saturday's visit of Newcastle.

"We have to try to get some support for the players," he said. "Both mentally and physically and in terms of numbers to give them the opportunity to play at their best. They're very disappointed, but it's not through the want of trying."

Amanda Staveley is poised to make a Premier League comeback by injecting Middle East investment into Tottenham Hotspur before Christmas.

Having been instrumental alongside her husband Mehrdad Ghodoussi in orchestrating the Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund's £305million acquisition of Newcastle, Staveley's association with St James' Park ended on a sour note. Nonetheless, the financier who was recently spotted at Tottenham's game against Brentford, is now engaged in serious discussions to secure a substantial shareholding at Spurs.

The search for new capital at Tottenham follows Joe Lewis' decreased involvement, the one-time dominant shareholder of the club. It's expected that Staveley and Ghodoussi will purchase a portion of Lewis shares, presently managed by a family trust.

Confidential sources have conveyed Staveley's ambitions: "Amanda is serious about being involved with Spurs, and is hoping that an initial purchase can be completed within weeks," reports the Mirror

Staveley, lest we forget, tapped the Middle East for financial muscle resulting in her success with Newcastle. However, following changes at PIF and almost three years holding significant sway in Newcastle's boardroom, the couple stepped back this summer..

Their exit was keenly felt by the Newcastle faithful, who held both in high esteem and were ardent backers of popular manager Eddie Howe. Staveley expressed deep regret over the departure, confessing: "I am devastated. The club has become part of my DNA."

Staveley, having kept her cards close to her chest on transactions earlier this summer, conceded to The Athletic that she's open to opportunities in the football industry beyond Newcastle: "My preference would have been to stay with Newcastle, but life doesn't always work out exactly how you want it to. Nothing is going to replicate that."

"I fell in love with Newcastle, the club and the people and that can't change, but I didn't want to get in Newcastle's way. It's got to be about what's best for Newcastle."

"Mehrdad and I are keen to be hands-on. We're hard-working people, I love to be very busy and to engage and I love football. Very sadly, we have to move on to other projects and that might involve us taking a stake in another club or buying another club and that's difficult. But it's possible."

Talk that Amanda Staveley is ready to make a return to the Premier League has increased after her husband Mehrdad Ghodoussi was on a VIP guest list at the North London derby last weekend.

Reports in the Sun on Sunday suggest the pair have been part of investment talks at Tottenham Hotspur. A potential cash injection could be in the pipeline with Staveley understood to be assembling financial backing from the Middle East.

There have been reports of Spurs making a percentage stake in the club available with Staveley keen to return to the top-flight table after her Newcastle United exit.

Staveley’s Apollo Belvedere Services was liquidated by a London judge earlier this month. It was the company formerly known as PCP Capital Partners - who were on the books of the original consortium at Newcastle when the Saudi-backed takeover was pushed through and they helped broker the deal to end Mike Ashley's 14-year tenure on Tyneside.

Greek shipping magnate Victor Restis claimed that he was owed £10m from a loan made to Staveley's ventures in 2008. The Financial Times report: "Staveley was required to pay the tycoon about £3.5m after she lost a High Court bid in March to block a statutory demand — a formal ultimatum for payment of a debt — that Restis served on the British financier last year."

Staveley left Newcastle in July after three years on the board after a shake up at St James' Park. She said then: "I am devastated. It’s such a wonderful club, so it feels very bittersweet. It has become part of my DNA, something you love so much and don’t want to let go. It’s very painful."

Anthony Gordon was in jubilant mood after Newcastle United triumphed over Tottenham Hotspur, with him heading out to a very popular restaurant in town for curry, hours after the final whistle blew.

Having got the equaliser against Bournemouth a week earlier, Gordon was back in the Magpies starting line-up for the home game, as Eddie Howe's men aimed to condemn Spurs to another defeat, after the 6-1 of two years ago and the 4-0 win last season. Newcastle took the lead in the 37th minutes, with Harvey Barnes finding the net.

Spurs threatened to spoil a Super Sunday for NUFC fans, when a Dan Burn own goal levelled things. But Newcastle weren't done there, with the always reliable Alexander Isak securing victory with 12 minutes to go. The win over Spurs sees United's tally from their first three games of the new Premier League season to seven points out of a possible nine.

Get all the latest TV and showbiz news and gossip from Chronicle Live with our free newsletter

A the league now goes on pause for the international break, with Gordon named in Lee Carsley's first England squad, the fan favourite celebrated the win with a trip to Khai Khai on the Quayside.

A favourite with famous faces, with footballers like Alan Shearer and Lauren James dining there, as well as movie legend Harrison Ford, Khai Khai, which opened during the Covid pandemic, has been singled out by notoriously hard to please chef Gordon Ramsay for serving him 'the best curry of his life'

And, having been on the shortlist for the Asian Restaurant Awards a few days earlier, staff at the Queen Street restaurant were delighted to welcome Gordon, with a photo on their Instagram story showing Anthony with a member of staff, just a week after his last visit to the much loved venue.

Gordon isn't the only Newcastle player to dine at Khai Khai in recent weeks, with now first choice right back Tino Livramento heading there before news of his call up for England.

Newcastle fans celebrated winning their first two home games in the Premier League since the 2000/01 season with a narrow 2-1 defeat of Tottenham on Sunday afternoon.

Once again, it was an electric atmosphere at St James' Park, with a Wor Flags' display paying tribute to Sandro Tonali, returning after a ten-month ban, ahead of kick off. Tonali was introduced off the bench in the 68th minute, 12 minutes after a Dan Burn own goal handed Spurs the equaliser.

Spurs were pushing for the lead but a lightning counter attack saw Jacob Murphy break free of the Tottenham defence, laying it on a plate for Alexander Isak to score the winner in the 78th minute. For the remainder of the match, chants of "EIEIEO, up the Premier League we go" rang out throughout the stadium.

Keep up to date with all the latest local news from Newcastle with our free newsletter

The win extends NUFC's unbeaten start to the season, and they head into the international break in fifth spot. Here are shots of fans savouring the victory taken by ChronicleLive photographer Iain Buist.

Here we go then

The players are out, Wor Flags have done their bit with a message to Sandro and we're minutes away from kick-off here.

Stick with us throughout the afternoon right here!

Confident, NUFC fans?

It's a really big day for Newcastle United, who remain unbeaten in all competitions this season but are coming into this game off the back of a deflating end to the transfer window.

As such, a nice, convincing win today is needed!

It's a bold lineup from Howe, who starts Barnes and Gordon together for the first time this season. Tonali makes the bench after his fine showing in midweek.

Big arrivals for today's game

Newcastle United supremo Yasir Al-Rumayyan has jetted in for the Magpies' clash with Tottenham Hotspur today.

After a turbulent week on Tyneside, with no major signings added to Eddie Howe's squad, the PIF chairman and Newcastle chief was keen to "show support" for board members after a tricky end to the summer trading campaign. It is understood that CEO Darren Eales and everybody at executive level has the full backing of the club's Saudi co-owners.

Fellow PIF board members Asma Rezeeq and Jacobo Solis will also be in attendance.

Fans pick their best XI

As always, we asked you to pick the Newcastle United XI you would pick for today's game . . . and there are some interesting choices in the most popular side.

Starting at right-back, fans have opted to start Trippier over Livramento, with Lewis Hall keeping his place on the left ahead of new signing Kelly. Livramento has got the nod for the previous two Premier League games, but Trippier made a difference against Bournemouth last week and started against Forest in midweek.

You can see the best XI based on what fans want to see, here.

RIP Sol Bamba

Former Leeds United and Middlesbrough defender Sol Bamba has died aged 39 after taking ill over the weekend.

Bamba had recently taken up his first head coach's role at Turkish club Adanaspor and they confirmed the news on Saturday evening that the Boro favourite had died after taking ill before a match and being transferred to a hospital.

In a statement, Adanaspor said: "Our Technical Director Souleymane Bamba, who fell ill before the Manisa Football Club match played yesterday, was taken to Manisa Celal Bayar University Hospital and unfortunately lost his battle for life there. Our condolences to his family and our community."

Bamba ended a stellar playing career at Boro after being brought to the club by Neil Warnock following his successful battle with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma. He had been an integral member of Warnock's promotion-winning Cardiff City side and also played for the likes of Leicester City and Hibernian.

Becoming a real fan-favourite for his warrior spirit on the pitch as well as his gentlemanly character off it, Bamba moved into coaching after his playig days ended. He returned to Cardiff as assistant manager in January 2023 before his move to Turkey this summer to take on his first head coach role.

Tottenham injuries

Spurs will be without new signing Dominic Solanke and Brazilian forward Richarlison today. Ange Postecoglou confirmed the duo would not travel, although Rodrigo Bentancur will return.

"Dom is close but we're going to be a bit cautious with him, we've got a big programme post the international break, so he'll miss out on Sunday," he said when speaking to SPURSPLAY. "The only other one we got midweek is Richarlison, who unfortunately picked up an injury in training, so he'll probably miss the next few weeks."

Early team news

Team news will landed at 12.15pm today, but here's what we know for sure. Sven Botman, Joe Willock, Callum Wilson, Fabian Schar, Lewis Miley and Jamaal Lascelles are all unavailable today, with Schar serving the final game of his three-match ban.

Sandro Tonali is added to the squad that faced Bournemouth, with Martin Dubravka also likely to return after concussion protocols ruled him out last weekend.

Newcastle United squad vs Tottenham: Pope, Dubravka, Ruddy, Vlachodimos, Trippier, Livramento, Krafth, Burn, Kelly, A Murphy, Hall, Targett, Longstaff, Guimaraes, Joelinton, Tonali, J Murphy, Almiron, Barnes, Gordon, Osula, Isak.

Welcome

Morning everyone and welcome to today's matchday live blog from St James' Park. It promises to be another cracker - there are always goals when Spurs come to Tyneside.

A repeat of the last two performances against Tottenham here will do nicely, with Newcastle winning 6-1 and 4-0, although I'm sure Ange Postecoglou will have something to say about that.

Sandro Tonali is back, of course, and could be in line to start, although Sean Longstaff will be pressing for a recall. Team news will land at 12.15pm today, with all the latest right here.