· Brian Judson's Preview
· Last Year's Game - 2-1 to Newcastle
· This week - last year
· What happened in the Premiership in Match 16 2002-3

Newcastle

Newcastle  3  0  P'tsmouth
A. Villa   1  1  Newcastle
Chelsea    5  0  Newcastle
Newcastle  3  0  Man City
Wolves     1  1  Newcastle
Newcastle  1  1  Liverpool

Spurs

Spurs      0  0   Middlesbrough
Spurs      0  1   Bolton
Arsenal    2  1   Spurs
Spurs      2  1   A. Villa
Blackburn  1  0   Spurs
Spurs      5  2   Wolves

Pos           P  W  D  L  F-A   GD  Pts
 7 Newcastle 15  5  6  4 21-20   1  21
12 Spurs     15  5  3  7 18-20  -2  18

Strangely, I feel optimistic about this game. Spurs are in good form, having scored 8 goals in their last 2 games, and with the "K" men - Robbie and Fredi - back in tandem, knocking the goals in. On our day, we CAN give any team a good game, as we did prove at Highbury last month, despite losing.

Once again we travel to Newcastle in good spirits, as last year we arrived on the back of a 6 game unbeaten run, which followed a poor defeat at the other end of Seven Sisters Road. Then as now, IF we were to beat the Toon, we could go above the opposition. Then we failed. What will happen this week?

Newcastle had an awful start to the season, failing to win until October in their seventh game. Then they hit form, winning four games on the trot, and now they have lost only one of their last 9 league games. They have suffered disappointment in Europe of course, with their failure to qualify for the Champions League proper.(Sorry for my error in earlier editions of this preview) Time is running short for Sir Bobby and his ace centre-forward, Mr Shearer, surely? I can't see glory coming their way this year, and once again, I suspect they will have to be satisfied with playing for the passionate Toon army. Shearer is putting the goals away again, but without him they will be an ordinary side. Still - those 52,000 crowds must be giving them the ability to save up for his replacement in a year or two!

It should be a good game tomorrow. Newcastle gave the Liverpool goal plenty of stick last week, particularly in the second half, when they were thwarted by the young Liverpool keeper. We can expect the same sort of pressure, but if only Spurs can get out of the psyche of playing like an away side and take the game to the opposition, they can get a result.

I would expect Konchesky to start in preference to Ricketts, and probably Dalmat will be held back till the second half too. Hence Gus Poyet may start in the middle, which will not please many Spurs fans, but who knows - he may pop up with a goal for us tomorrow!

I'm going to predict 2-1 to Spurs. That would be enough to put us level on points with the home side, but not above them in the table. Spurs Odyssey will be up in the rafters at St. James Park, (with my binoculars) and the report will be uploaded either late on Saturday or early Sunday morning. I hope it will be worth the wait for you!

Follow @spursodyssey