Premier League 2021/22: How five-star Tottenham thrashed Newcastle to boost top four hopes – tactical analysis

Tottenham Hotspur hosted Newcastle United on the back of the international break in what was a must-win game for Antonio Conte’s side to stand any chance of finishing in the top four. After Manchester United drew with Leicester City and with Arsenal yet to play, the onus was on Spurs to put in a decent performance. Conte’s team was looking to make it three Premier League wins on the bounce for only the second time in his tenure.

Newcastle arrived into this fixture having lost the last three Premier League games and Eddie Howe stated that he was looking for a reaction from his players. Despite the recent poor run of form, Newcastle have been decent since the turn of the year. On Christmas day, they found themselves sitting in the relegation zone with one win and 10 points from 18 matches played. The Toon are now 15^th in the league with a nine-point cushion over the relegation zone, having won 6 of their 10 league games in 2022.

After a cagey first half ended level at 1-1, an emphatic display from Tottenham in the second period saw them emerge as comfortable 5-1 winners to leapfrog Arsenal into 4^th place on goal difference.

This tactical analysis will break down some of the key tactics we saw in Sunday’s match.

Line-ups

Spurs lost defender Sergio Reguilón to a knee injury during the week. He was replaced by Emerson Royal with Matt Doherty shifting to the other flank in an unnatural position as left wing-back.

Tottenham lined up in Conte’s customary 3-4-3 formation. Captain Hugo Lloris started in goal behind a back three of Cristian Romero, Eric Dier and Ben Davies. Emerson Royal and Matt Doherty occupied the wing-back positions with Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and Rodrigo Bentancur as the holding midfielders. The in-form trio of Heung-Min Son, Dejan Kulusevski and Harry Kane started as the front three.

Newcastle set up in a 4-1-4-1/4-3-3 formation. Martin Dubravka played in goal with the back four consisting of Javier Manquillo, Fabian Schär, Dan Burn and Matt Targett. The midfield three was made up of Jonjo Shelvey, Joe Willock and Joelinton. Allan Saint-Maximin was fit to start as he and Ryan Fraser played on the flanks with Chris Wood leading the line.

Newcastle game plan and setup

Eddie Howe set up his team to be compact in the first half to try and disrupt Spurs from having joy and finding spaces between the lines. Spurs controlled most of the possession and Newcastle often sat back in a 4-3-3 formation. With Spurs lining up in their 3-4-3 system, Newcastle did not apply pressure on the three CBs when Spurs had possession on the halfway line. In fact, Wood shifted positions in between Højbjerg and Bentancur while Saint-Maximin and Fraser covered the potential passes to the wing-backs. The midfield trio operated very close to one another to close the spaces where Kane usually arrives to receive the ball.

Tottenham’s main strength over the last few games has been stretching opposition defences with Kane dropping deep to receive the ball while Son/Kulusevski make runs in behind the back four looking for a flick or through ball from Kane. Newcastle’s spacial 4-3-3 created huge spaces to the Spurs forwards to operate in the blind spots of the Newcastle midfield and create numerical superiorities.