Matchweek 2 and both clubs are already under pressure neither manager would have chosen. Roberto De Zerbi's Tottenham were beaten 3-0 by Brentford on the opening day and sit 19th with nothing to show for it, while Matthias Jaissle's Newcastle, 10th with a point from a 2-2 draw against Liverpool, are hardly in better shape. Both clubs changed managers in the past few months and with no shared history between these two coaches, any tactical prediction is largely educated guesswork.
There is no head to head record between De Zerbi and Jaissle to draw on, De Zerbi having been appointed in March 2026 as a replacement for Igor Tudor, who had himself only arrived in February after Thomas Frank's exit. Jaissle came in weeks ago, in early August, to replace Eddie Howe, who had been at the club since November 2021.
The two game sample for Tottenham is hard to read. The 3-0 loss to Brentford on 22 August was worrying, though the 5-1 EFL Cup win over Charlton three days later at least showed Savio can finish on his debut. Newcastle's two results have been more consistent: a 2-2 draw with Liverpool on 23 August followed by a 3-2 cup win over West Brom midweek.
This is where the match gets genuinely complicated. Tottenham are missing Xavi Simons (ACL), Dejan Kulusevski (knee), Wilson Odobert (knee), James Maddison (shoulder) and potentially Mohammed Kudus and Pape Matar Sarr, both carrying thigh complaints. Cristian Romero has been sold to Atletico Madrid, so he is gone entirely and that is most of their creative and defensive spine out at once. Newcastle have problems too, though perhaps less severe: Joelinton is out with a muscle injury, Dan Burn is unavailable with a groin problem, Will Osula is sidelined and Tino Livramento is a doubt with a calf issue. Bruno Guimaraes and Anthony Gordon have also left the club and Sandro Tonali was sold to Tottenham, so there are major departures layered on top of the injuries.
De Zerbi will want to play the possession based, high pressing football he is known for but the injury list makes that extremely difficult. Without Simons, Kulusevski, Odobert and Maddison, it is not clear who plays the ball into the striker or gets into the box from midfield. Savio, the winger signed from Manchester City, is the obvious outlet after scoring on his debut against Charlton and Sandro Tonali, the club record signing, will need to carry much of the midfield burden while covering the back line as well, with Micky van de Ven anchoring the defence behind him.
Jaissle, shaped by his Red Bull coaching background, builds his sides around aggressive pressing and fast transitions but whether that engine has enough without Guimaraes, Joelinton and a half fit Livramento to sustain the intensity over 90 minutes is a fair question. Anthony Elanga, who scored in the Liverpool draw, is the obvious player to exploit the space behind Van de Ven if Newcastle win it back quickly and the duel to watch is Tonali against Newcastle's press. If Newcastle disrupt Tottenham's build up, De Zerbi's side may struggle to create anything and Van de Ven will need to manage a back line with very little midfield protection, which is exactly the space Elanga will be looking to run into behind a makeshift Tottenham midfield.
Set pieces could matter more than usual given the absences. Newcastle lose Burn and Joelinton, two of their most physically imposing players in the air from dead balls, while Tottenham lose Maddison and Sarr from their delivery options, leaving both sides short at dead balls.
A 0-0 feels like the honest answer here. De Zerbi's system relies on the creative movement that Simons and Maddison provided and those players are not here, Jaissle's press works best with Joelinton's physicality leading the line and he is not here either. Tottenham will probe patiently while Newcastle press without quite having the legs to sustain it over 90 minutes, the cup game midweek having taken its toll. Tottenham lead the all time head to head but a 0-0 has never been recorded across their 62 Premier League meetings, which makes this prediction feel like tempting fate.
Ryan Baldi
Football Writer
Ryan Baldi is a professional football writer with years of experience and has been featured by respected outlets such as the BBC, The Guardian, Sky Sports, DAZN, FourFourTwo, ESPN, Yahoo Sport and Football365. He has also written several books including Arsène Who?.
