The start of the Premier League season only comes around once a year, and as such, the opportunity to kick things off with a bang also only comes once a year. It’s well-known for being one of the most exciting divisions in the world for a reason, with unpredictability and pieces of brilliance often popping up from Matchday 1 all the way through until the final day. It’s exciting, it’s exhilarating, and whilst this may sound like a promotional advert, we can assure you that it’s not.

Over the course of the next 24 hours or so the final preparations will be made both on and off the pitch, with Deadline Day upon us as well as the opening game of the weekend. Then, on Saturday lunchtime, Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur will attempt to best one another for the right to start the campaign with three points on the board – and while it may not seem like it, this is a massive opportunity for the Magpies to make a real statement.

It’s no secret that they’ve had their fair share of issues as of late, with Mike Ashley and Rafa Benitez continuing their ‘cold war’ of sorts, with many worrying that it’ll lead to the Spaniard’s departure from the club. Alas, it’s time to put that to one side and focus on what’s happening on the pitch, which should be an easy thing to do given the circumstances of who they’re playing.

Tottenham Hotspur have been suspiciously quiet in the summer transfer window, with many Spurs supporters being left to wonder whether or not this is a master plan by Mauricio Pochettino or whether this is just poor management on his part.

It’d be easy to believe the first of those two stories, mainly because he’s had such a strong track record since arriving at White Hart Lane, but there’s an opening here for a potential shock result – and Benitez can sense it.

When they get into their rhythm Newcastle are capable of playing some of the best attacking football in English football, and they’ve even proven that against Spurs themselves in the past. With this being a similar team to the one they squared off against last season, you’d have to imagine that Rafa Benitez knows how they operate and how they’re going to set up from a tactical point of view.

We think that Spurs need to try and intimidate Newcastle in their own backyard if they’re going to get anything out of the game, whereas the Magpies need to play a high tempo passing game that will allow them to force Tottenham back and create openings that other people won’t even realise are there. The pressure is off Newcastle given that more fans are interested in what’s happening away from the pitch right now, and given the operation that Benitez has put in place, it’s not at all unlikely to picture them giving Spurs all kinds of problems.

We’re going out on a limb and predicting a narrow 2-1 Newcastle win – but the most important thing, at the end of the day, is that football is back.

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