Tottenham vs. Newcastle: 5 Key Battles to Decide the Match

Guess who's back? Back again. Redknapp's back. Tell a friend.

After missing last week's game vs Liverpool due to technical issues with his private jet, Harry Redknapp is back in the dugout to coach Tottenham through what is sure to be a tricky home tie against Newcastle United.

Although Redknapp has made it clear that he doesn't care much for tactics, Scott Parker revealed after Tottenham's draw with Liverpool that the team missed Redknapp's inspiration against Liverpool, and that the manager gives the team an "extra bit of energy" when he's around.

Good. Although Tottenham aren't really in danger of dropping out of the top four presently, with difficult matches against Arsenal and Manchester United following this one, this match is a must win.

Let's look at the battles that will decide it all.

Niko Kranjcar/Aaron Lennon vs. Davide Santon

This is easily the most unpredictable match-up of the match.

It took Davide Santon a while to settle in as a replacement for Jose Enrique, but the ex-Inter Milan full-back has really come into his game lately.

Against Aston Villa, Santon arguably provided a number of excellent crosses which Papiss Cisse got onto but couldn't convert. He was greatly involved in the team's offense and kept Aston Villa quiet on defense.

As for Tottenham, it is expected that Aaron Lennon will finally return from his hamstring injury against Newcastle, and boy has he been missed.

The right midfielder position has always been the position that Tottenham have the least quality in offensively, but at least with Lennon, Tottenham have a pacy winger who can cause trouble in the box with his crosses or by drawing penalties.

Despite being a good dribbler, shooter and well-rounded midfielder, Kranjcar just isn't as big of a threat on the right of midfield as he is playing down the center, and with the tenacity of Newcastle's defense, Tottenham will need someone like Lennon who is more likely to unlock such a defense.

Whether Kranjcar or Lennon get the start for Tottenham, Tottenham will need their right midfielder to actively and consistently threaten Newcastle's defense rather than simply leave the work to the likes of Gareth Bale and Luka Modric.

If either Kranjcar or Lennon can do that, Tottenham's chances of winning will increase considerably.

Emmanuel Adebayor vs. Fabricio Coloccini

For the second consecutive week, Emmanuel Adebayor is the only top-class striker fit and definitely available for Tottenham against Newcastle United (oh Roman Pavyluchenko, if only you had stayed...).

Rafael van der Vaart is still suffering from the calf injury he picked up at Wigan, while Jermain Defoe is said to still be fighting to overcome his hamstring injury. He may be fit for the match, but The Guardian predict that he'll unfortunately be a substitute once again.

Whatever the case, this matchup will be crucial to the game's result. Tottenham have been winning matches without Emmanuel Adebayor scoring, but when he does score, the game because so much easier for Spurs.

It is worth noting that this is unfortunately typical Adebayor. Aside from the one season with Arsenal when he was on an absolute tear, Adebayor has typically blown hot and cold in his career as a striker, and unfortunately, he's currently very, very cold.

Coloccini may not be one of the premier defenders you'll hear about in the EPL, but he's Newcastle's best defender and clearly knows how to get the job done judging by how strong Newcastle's defense has (generally) been this year.

If Adebayor scores or assists a goal, chances are Tottenham will win. After all, Tottenham's record when Adebayor gets on the stat sheet is eight wins, two draws and one loss (unfairly to Stoke City).

Gareth Bale vs. Danny Simpson

Last week, Gareth Bale had a very mixed game against Liverpool. As usual, he was Tottenham's most dangerous player, but he played too free of a role, and that prevented him from being picked out easily by Luka Modric or hurting the Liverpool defense in his usual ways.

Furthermore, despite usually being a good finisher, Bale shot straight at Pepe Reina despite finding himself in acres of space. Reina did well to close the gap between him and Bale, but it was still an opportunity Bale should've put away.

In the end, most commentators on the game agreed that Martin Kelly kept Bale fairly in check for most of the game. 

If Newcastle are going to get something out of this game, Danny Simpson will have to match Kelly's feats from last week.

Newcastle are not a club with the same fear factor as Liverpool, and Tottenham will be playing at home, so Bale is likely to feel more confident attacking Newcastle's defense. 

In that case, Simpson better bring his A-game. He's developed into a fairly decent right back in his time at Newcastle, but marking Bale is not easy even the best of right-backs (ask Maicon), and Simpson will face a tough task on Saturday.

Danny Guthrie vs. Scott Parker

Assuming Jake Livermore is finally kept on the bench (I swear, I may just lose hope in Tottenham's coaching staff if I have to see Livermore pick up another start), this should be a pretty straightforward matchup.

In the absence of Yohan Cabaye (suspended) and Cheikh Tiote (ACON), Newcastle's central midfield options are very much depleted.

James Perch has started the last few games just to make up the numbers, but he's very a Championship-level player, and will have his hands full trying to tackle the crap out of Luka Modric whenever the opportunity arises.

His claim to fame is becoming the first EPL midfielder to pick up five yellow cards in his first five games, so you can already tell that there be at least a couple of untidy tackles come in from Perch.

Danny Guthrie, on the other hand, is capable of being a top-level Premiership midfielder; his only problem is consistency. However, against the likes of Scott Parker, Tottenham's "Mr. Consistency," Guthrie will need to be at the top of his game.

Excluding the walloping that Newcastle received from Fulham, which ironically was the only match Guthrie has scored in this season, Guthrie has won all three of the other matches he's started in the absence of Cabaye and Tiote.

If he can avoid getting frustrated and neutralized by Parker, Guthrie may be able to use his creativity as well as his shooting ability to feed Newcastle's Senegalese strikers, and maybe even scare Brad Friedel with a couple of goal attempts of his own.

Papiss Cisse vs. Ledley King

This isn't a matchup that's guaranteed to happen, as Ledley King's knees are, as always, an injury concern for him entering this match. 

I expect that he'll play though, and that he''ll be tasked with covering Newcastle's new Senegalese striker Papiss Demba Cisse, since Dawson is usually better at covering and neutralizing the bigger strikers (Demba Ba is two inches taller and considerably larger than Cisse).

Cisse had a brilliant debut against Aston Villa, coming on for the injured Leon Best to score the winning goal for Newcastle, but if he is fit, I expect Ledley King will make Cisse's life much tougher than Aston Villa's defenders did.

With Ledley King in the team, Tottenham still have only one loss this season, which came against Liverpool. As good as Papiss Cisse is, he'll likely find King a much tougher defender to deal with than Richard Dunne and Carlos Cuellar.

If he does manage to break free from King long enough to score though, Newcastle could very possibly take a point, or even all three points, from this game.

Prediction

Unfortunately, this is another one of many matches which comes down to injuries and our starting lineup selection.

If Adebayor and Defoe start up front, with Lennon on the wings opposite to Gareth Bale, this is an easy 2-0 win, no questions asked. Maybe 3-1 even, but I expect we'll win by a two goal margin.

If he come out with the same player we played against Liverpool, I expect a similar result: 1-1 most likely, or possibly another painfully slow 0-0 draw.

If Livermore starts, we will not win. Our record with Livermore in the starting lineup is one win, two draws and one loss.

The only reason we even got one win with Livermore in the starting lineup was because he was in as Scott Parker's replacement, and Aaron Lennon, Gareth Bale, Rafael van der Vaart and Emmanuel Adebayor were all fit and in decent or good form.

I want to stress that I do not hate or even dislike Jake Livermore; I just know that his usefulness only comes as a replacement for Parker, not as a midfielder to play alongside Parker. Why the Tottenham coaching staff have yet to see this, I don't know.

What do you think? Share your predictions for the match in the comments section below.