Newcastle United have twice driven away from Tottenham's new home without tasting the bitter experience of defeat in the capital. But they now arguably face their toughest test at the venue against Antonio Conte's Spurs.
Conte sets up with a 3-4-2-1 system with England star Harry Kane at the point of his attack and the Italian has opted to drum up a different mood around the place compared with Eddie Howe's Newcastle. Conte shocked journalists after a defeat at Burnley and said he would consider his position if things didn't improve.
The fear of losing one of the game's truly great managers seems to have sparked Spurs into life. And they are now in contention for the Champions League again - but again, in keeping with Conte's tone, he has warned that he doesn't even consider the top four as a reason to celebrate.
Newcastle will not only need to match the quality of Spurs on the pitch but they will need to better their intensity on the day. They managed that well at Chelsea for 89 minutes but they'll need to go one better on this visit to London.
Lee Ryder's prediction
Newcastle lost 3-2 against Spurs in the reverse fixture in the first game under new owners and the last under Steve Bruce. This time around, Eddie Howe is at the wheel for United and former Inter Milan boss Conte is in control at Spurs.
United are looking to avoid losing three matches in a row so I expect them to head to Spurs with a defensive mindset. And bagging a point in this fixture would be deemed as a more than satisfactory result.
Given Spurs have a host of international players returning, this might be a good time to catch them - especially as Howe has had a warm weather training camp with the majority of his squad to tweak things after defeats at Chelsea and Everton.
I'll go for a creditable draw against Conte's men.
Referee
Martin Atkinson (West Yorkshire)
Took charge of Newcastle's win over Brighton recently.
Betting
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- Tottenham - 1/2
- Draw - 16/5
- Newcastle - 11/2
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