Newcastle United are in Premier League action once again this afternoon following the latest international break.
This time, the Toon are on the road again with a trip to the capital to take on Tottenham Hotspur after losing their two previous league games before the break.
On the chalkboard
In terms of which players Eddie Howe could select in his starting XI to take on Antonio Conte’s top-four chasers, one man who hasn’t started for the Magpies since mid-February but we feel should be unleashed from the beginning on this occasion is Allan Saint-Maximin.
Despite scoring five goals and providing three assists in 25 league appearances this season, the Frenchman has only made three substitute appearances for the Magpies in their past four league games.
In addition to his goal contributions, Saint-Maximin’s overall performances have highlighted what a crucial figure he is for the Toon, with WhoScored giving him a season rating of 7.14/10, making him the highest-rated Newcastle player to start more than four games.
From an attacking point of view, the 25-year-old has racked up 92 shot-creating actions in the Premier League this season, putting him in the top 10 for that statistic for the entire league ahead of players such as Kevin De Bruyne, Jack Grealish and Harry Kane.
The winger, who is currently valued at £28.8m by Transfermarkt, also leads the way for dribbles attempted in the Premier League with 175 to his name at a success rate of 60%.
This shows just how much of a nuisance the attacker could be for Newcastle in today’s clash against a Tottenham side which has kept three clean sheets in their past five league games.
Having been praised for his “breathtaking” speed and movement on the pitch by Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville, Saint-Maximin certainly has what it takes to cause Spurs and their defence a lot of problems.
With that in mind, if Newcastle want to pick up all three points and move further away from the relegation zone, then starting their £93k-p/w French star should definitely be in Howe’s mind when coming up with his starting XI today.
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