Newcastle United return to Premier League action on Sunday with a 1:30pm kick-off at St James' Park against Tottenham Hotspur live on Sky Sports.
Coming off the back of their penalty shootout victory over Nottingham Forest in the Carabao Cup, Newcastle will be hoping to finally put in the performance to match their spirit after struggling to really get going so far this season.
There is a general feeling around the club that something isn't quite right with the team misfiring and the sporting director failing to direct the sport.
It's almost like there's a lack of cohesion after a stressful summer which has brought with it a lot of upheaval behind the scenes.
It's not all doom and gloom, though as Sandro Tonali made his return from his 10-month ban on Wednesday night and looked superb. Whether Eddie Howe will throw him in the starting lineup again on Sunday remains to be seen, but he certainly looked capable of putting in the right level of performance.
We may need him too if Chris Sutton's prediction is anything to go by.
As usual, the former Blackburn striker has predicted this weekend's scores on the BBC Football website, and he has gone with goals galore at St James' Park, which is understandable given this fixture's history.
Unfortunately, Sutton has predicted that the majority of the goals will be scored by Tottenham.
"Eddie Howe's team haven't quite clicked. I don't think it's a really settled Eddie Howe because he hasn't got the players in so far which I think he would've wanted.
"I thought Spurs were excellent against Everton. I think there will be goals in this game, there can't not be.
"But this will be toe-to-toe, this will be like a basketball match. I'm going to back Ange Postecoglou's Spurs.
"Sutton's prediction: 2-3"
PL | GD | PTS | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Liverpool
|
7 | 11 | 18 |
2 |
Manchester City
|
7 | 9 | 17 |
3 |
Arsenal
|
7 | 9 | 17 |
4 |
Chelsea
|
7 | 8 | 14 |
5 |
Aston Villa
|
7 | 3 | 14 |
6 |
Brighton
|
7 | 3 | 12 |
7 |
Newcastle United
|
7 | 1 | 12 |
8 |
Fulham
|
7 | 2 | 11 |
9 |
Tottenham Hotspur
|
7 | 6 | 10 |
10 |
Nottingham Forest
|
7 | 1 | 10 |
11 |
Brentford
|
7 | 0 | 10 |
12 |
West Ham United
|
7 | -1 | 8 |
13 |
Bournemouth
|
7 | -2 | 8 |
14 |
Manchester United
|
7 | -3 | 8 |
15 |
Leicester
|
7 | -3 | 6 |
16 |
Everton
|
7 | -8 | 5 |
17 |
Ipswich
|
7 | -8 | 4 |
18 |
Crystal Palace
|
7 | -5 | 3 |
19 |
Southampton
|
7 | -11 | 1 |
20 |
Wolves
|
7 | -12 | 1 |