Just three days after playing their final game of the 2023-24 Premier League campaign, Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur face off in a post-season friendly on Wednesday after making the controversial trip to Australia.
The 100,000-capacity Melbourne Cricket Ground will stage the contest between two teams that were separated by only two places and six points in the Premier League table, with Spurs finishing fifth and Newcastle securing seventh spot.
Match preview
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While players at the majority of clubs across the major European leagues are now enjoying a well-earned rest ahead of a busy summer of international football, both Newcastle and Tottenham have decided to fly to the other side of the world for a friendly slammed by players and supporters of both clubs.
Newcastle right-back Kieran Trippier and Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou have both admitted that the trip is "not ideal" after a long season, while England manager Gareth Southgate has also expressed his disapproval, stating the friendly abroad is 'not great news' for his preparations ahead of Euro 2024.
From the outside looking in, it seems that the financial benefits and opportunity to grow their respective fanbases in Oceania outweigh the player-welfare and environmental concerns many have over the trip Down Under.
While Spurs will make a swift return back to the UK after their brief spell in Melbourne, Newcastle will follow up their clash against the Lilywhites with a showdown versus the Australian A-League All Stars team on Friday at Marvel Stadium.
Eddie Howe's side ended the 2023-24 Premier League season on a high as they beat Brentford 4-2 away from home to give themselves a fighting chance of securing European football for next season. The Magpies are on course to enter the 2024-25 Europa Conference League, but they will only qualify for that competition if Manchester City beat Manchester United in the FA Cup final.
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Newcastle's trip to Australia marks their first visit to Oceania since the summer of 2014 when they won the Football United Tour in New Zealand with victories over Sydney FC and Wellington Phoenix.
The Magpies are now gearing up for Wednesday's fixture against a Tottenham side whom they have beaten in three of their last four meetings, including a thumping 4-0 league triumph at St James' Park in April.
Spurs did beat Newcastle 4-1 in the reverse fixture in North London four months earlier, though, and they also concluded the 2023-24 Premier League campaign with a victory as they cruised to a 3-0 success at basement club Sheffield United to guarantee Europa League football for next season.
The Lilywhites boarded a plane heading Down Under just a few hours after their win at Bramall Lane along with their manager Postecoglou, who will be returning to familiar territory as the Australian grew up in Melbourne and represented South Melbourne in his playing days during the 1980s and early 1990s. He also began his coaching career with the same team between 1996 and 2000, and later managed Melbourne Victory for a season before taking the Australia national team job.
Tottenham will hope that their latest trip to the MCG will be more successful than their previous visit in 2016 when they suffered friendly defeats to both Juventus and Atletico Madrid under former boss Mauricio Pochettino.
Team News
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Newcastle boss Howe has named a 29-man squad for their two friendly fixtures in Australia, but it does not include Anthony Gordon as he is nursing an Achilles injury that forced him to miss the win at Brentford last weekend.
Fabian Schar is also left out as he is yet to make a full recovery from a hamstring strain, while Sean Longstaff, Martin Dubravka, Loris Karius and Sandro Tonali - the latter is still serving his 10-month betting ban - are other first-team players who have not made the trip Down Under.
However, in-demand duo Alexander Isak and Bruno Guimaraes, who both scored last weekend, are available for selection, as are youngsters Garang Kuol and Harrison Ashby who have been called up after returning from loan spells at FC Volendam and Swansea City respectively.
As for Tottenham, Cristian Romero, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Giovani Lo Celso have all been left out of Postecoglou's 29-man travelling squad, while the likes of Richarlison, Destiny Udogie, Yves Bissouma, Timo Werner and Ben Davies are all absent due to injury.
However, captain Son Heung-min, Pedro Porro, Micky van de Ven, Rodrigo Bentancur, James Maddison, Brennan Johnson and Dejan Kulusevski, who scored a brace against Sheffield United, have all travelled and are in contention to feature in some capacity.
Teenage midfield duo Rio Kyerematen and Leo Black have also travelled with the first-team squad for the first time, but highly-rated youngster Mikey Moore has been left out as he has been called up to represent England at the Euro Under-17s Championship.
Newcastle United possible starting lineup:
Pope; Trippier, Krafth, Burn, Hall; White, Guimaraes, Anderson; Almiron, Wilson, Barnes
Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:
Austin; Porro, Phillips, Van de Ven, Emerson; Skipp, Sarr; Johnson, Maddison, Kulusevski; Son
We say: Newcastle United 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur
It is difficult to envisage which side will come out on top, as it remains to be seen whether either manager will name a strong starting lineup or opt to give some of their youngsters a first-team run-out.
Nevertheless, we expect a fairly-even contest between the two teams, who could ultimately cancel each other out and be forced to settle for a share of the spoils.
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