Tottenham edge past gutsy Newcastle

Paul Merson is tipping Newcastle United to hold Tottenham Hotspur to a goalless draw in their Premier League opener this weekend.

MAURICIO POCHETTINO was clearly satisfied with his sides start to the Premier League campaign after first-half goals from Jan Vertonghen and Dele Alli ensured a 2-1 success over a busy Newcastle United side at St James’ Park.

Then, just a day into September, he bagged his first of the season for England against Malta in World Cup qualifiers.

Vertonghen headed Spurs into an early lead – an advantage that was restored after 18 minutes by Dele Alli following Joselu’s equaliser for the hosts. But he can’t score three goals in every game’.

Davinson Sanchez flicked on Christian Eriksen’s right-wing corner for Vertonghen to score, despite the best efforts of Dubravka.

Joselu has been given the nod in attack, while Matt Ritchie features on the right side of midfield despite being linked with an exit over the summer.

They fell behind again when Spurs right-back Serge Aurier found space on the right and swung a teasing cross towards the back post, where Alli, who evaded the attentions of DeAndre Yedlin, arrived late to steer a header past Dubravika. Benitez will believe that set pieces are heavily influenced by the tactical side of the game, therefore he won’t be wanting his team to conceded often from them.

The best came in the 85th minute when Salomon Rondon had a shot deflect off the crossbar.

Tottenham travelled to Newcastle for the early kick-off on Saturday and despite becoming the first club since the summer transfer window was introduced not to make a single addition, the Lilywhites looked in decent form.

“If we want to win and challenge for big things we need to all put our minds and energy into the collective and understand that the collective is the most important”. As usual, he was their creative inspiration, supplying five key passes over the 90 minutes. However, the sight of his star striker lacking sharpness and ceding possession with heavy touches and poor passes might.

It was a happy return to Craven Cottage for Roy Hodgson but an unhappy return to the Premier League for Fulham as Palace came away with a 2-0 win in their London derby.

As was the case in England’s later knockout games last month, Kane regularly dropped deep to link the play with mixed results, while his customary sharpness in the penalty area was not to the fore.