Premier League preview: Tottenham v Newcastle

Newcastle boss Alan Pardew claims there is ‘no pressure’ on his side ahead of their trip to Tottenham on Saturday.

In the late English Premier League kick-off, Newcastle will travel to north London with four wins from their past five league fixtures.

That has lifted Pardew’s side to fifth on the table, putting them above Arsenal and Liverpool, making Saturday’s trip south a bonus game for Newcastle.

“We’ve got ourselves in a good position,” Pardew said.

“We’ll see what we can do. We haven’t drawn or got beaten (recently). We can go there and give it a go. Who knows?”

“There’s no pressure (on us). We’ve set up Tottenham now. We haven’t done well in London. Maybe we’ll do something – we’ll see.”

Newcastle may give Senegalese striker Papiss Demba Cisse his first start for the club at White Hart Lane, after he came off the bench to score the winner in their 2-1 win over Aston Villa on Sunday.

Demba Ba also scored in that victory, making it 16 goals this season in the league for the former West Ham striker.

That leaves him second in the Premier League scoring charts, behind only Arsenal’s Robin van Persie who has bagged 22 goals this season.

But he will not find it easy adding to his account against a resolute Tottenham side, who have conceded just 10 goals at home.

Tottenham are also in fantastic form, sitting third in the league, seven points ahead of the fourth-placed Chelsea.

They could manage only a point on Monday at Liverpool in a goalless draw, but will be pleased to return home where they are unbeaten in 11 league matches this season.

Rafael van der Vaart (calf), Younes Kaboul (knee) and Jermain Defoe and Aaron Lennon (both hamstring) could all make returns to the Spurs’ starting line-up for Saturday’s match, but the likes of Tom Huddlestone (ankle), William Gallas (calf) and David Bentley (knee) will not be back for some time.

Newcastle are also missing a few players, with Steven Taylor (Achilles), Shola Ameobi and Leon Best (knee), Ryan Taylor and Nile Ranger (ankle), and Sylvain Marveaux (groin) all absent.

The last two meetings between Newcastle and Tottenham ended in draws, with the 2-2 stalemate in October at St James’ Park particularly entertaining.

Newcastle have not won in their last two trips to Spurs, but 4-1 and 3-2 wins before that mean they know how to win at White Hart Lane.