35 min: A penny for the thoughts of Tottenham’s Dutch centre-half, an excellent young player who is having an absolute shocker. On this occasion he manages to stay on his feet and dispossess Alexander Isak as the Newcastle striker bears down on the Tottenham goal after Cristian Romero had been caught out of position.

Newcastle double their lead! I’m not sure if he’s got his boots on the wrong feet but for the second time in two minutes, Micky van de Ven falls over in front of his own goal on the edge of the six-yard box. It leaves space for Anthony Gordon to curl a shot past Vicario. This is baffling.

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Newcastle lead! Alexander Isak opens the scoring for Newcastle, taking advantage of a Micky van de Ven slip to spank the ball past Vicario into the bottom left-hand corner from about 14 yards out.

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29 min: Son pounces on a bouncing through-ball into the Newcastle penalty area but is unable to hook it past Dubravka from close range.

28 min: Nothing comes of the free-kick and Spurs clear their lines after winning one of their own.

26 min: Anthony Gordon is brought down by the combined illegal forces of Timo Werner and Micky van de Ven. Finally, the yellow card comes out and is brandished in the face of Tottenham’s Dutch central defender. Free-kick for Newcastle, wide on the right.

24 min: On the subject of yellow cards, today mark’s Bruno Guimaraes’ 10th Premier League game on the disciplinary tightrope. If the Newcastle midfielder can get through this match without being cautioned, he no longer runs the risk of having to serve a two-match ban next time he’s shown a yellow.

22 min: Burn fouls Maddison in the centre-circle to put a stop to a Tottenham counter-attack and he too is fortunate to escape a yellow card. Maddison is incensed!

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19 min: Spurs enjoy a period of possession, passing the ball around at the back as they probe for an opening. Anthony Gordon wins the ball back for Newcastle and wins a free-kick after being bodychecked by Maddison. The Tottenham No10 pleads his innocence but probably should have been booked for a quite deliberate foul to stop the counter-attack.

17 min: Harvey Barnes has a shot blocked at close range by Romero in the Spurs penalty area and the visitors break upfield down the left. James Maddison pulls the ball back to Timo Werner from the byline but the Tottenham winger is unable to get a shot on target from the edge of the six-yard box. It’s a difficult chance but he really needs to do better.

14 min: Elliot Anderson intercepts a low Bentancur cross across the face of the Newcastle penalty area and moments later his side win a corner off Cristian Romero. Not the most convincing at corners, Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario comes off his line to claim the ball when it’s curled his way.

12 min: Harvey Barnes leaps to get on the end of a Newcastle corner but can only skim the ball wide of the upright.

10 min: Destiny Udogie is forced to intervene a couple of yards from his own line as the ball breaks towards Bruno Guimaraes at a corner. It’s been a very lively start in a goal where plenty of goals are expected.

9 min: Anthony Gordon curls a cross into the Spurs penalty area but Harvey Barnes miscontrols the bouncing ball and a decent chance goes begging for Newcastle.

8 min: Brennan Johnson sprints down the right flank and sends in a cross on the half-volley. He finds Timo Werner at the far post and the German stretches to volley high over the bar when the delivery was pleading to be headed past Martin Dubravka. It’s a terrible finish.

6 min: Tottenham win a corner. Porro takes it short to Maddison, who tries to pick out Timo Werner with a cross. Newcastle clear and win a free-kick for an Yves Bissouma foul on Harvey Barnes.

5 min: Newcastle have lined up with a back three, while Spurs appear to have stationed Brennan Johnson and Timo Werner in touchline-hugging wide roles. Elliot Anderson and Jacob Murphy are the Newcastle wing-backs.

4 min: Newcastle win a corner, which Gordon takes. His delivery is cleared at the near post by Pedro Porro.

3 min: Early pressure from Newcastle, as Pedro Porro sends Anthony Gordon on his way down the right flank. The winger pulls the ball acrossd the Spurs penalty area but is unable to pick out a teammate.

2 min: Actually, more beige than mauve. Son is the subject of a meaty challenge from Fabian Schar, who is probably lucky to escape an early booking.

1 min: Tottenham get the ball rolling, their players a vision in – I’m going to say – mauve. Both sets opf players are wearing black armbands as a tribute to the late Joe Kinnear.

Not long now: Referee Tim Robinson and his team of match officials lead both sets of players on to the St James’ Park pitch. The home side’s mascots are young members of the local deaf community, who got to meet Dan Burn and Kieran Trippier during the week and teach the two Newcastle players some sign language. Newcastle’s match shirts today boast the Royal National Institute for the Deaf (RNID) logo.

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Joe Kinnear: Before today’s game, representatives from both teams laid wreaths in the concourse of St James’ Park as a tribute to Joe Kinnear, who passed away last week.

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Joelinton: Currently injured, Newcastle’s non-scoring striker turned midfielder has just signed a four-year transfer extension. A £40m laughing stock who was on the verge of an ignominious exit from the club three years ago, the Brazilian had his career transformed by Eddie Howe, who turned him into an excellent midfielder.

“Eddie Howe’s a great man,” said Joelinton in an interview with the club website. “I love him as a person and a coach. Since day one, he helped me a lot. He gave me the confidence to play and believe in myself. When I step on the pitch, I want to give back to him.

“I feel great. I feel very happy and my family is happy. A lot of things have happened in my years here. I’ve learnt a lot and grown a lot, and for me to come here to Newcastle was the best decision of my career.

“I love playing for the club. I love the club, I love the fans. We had a lot of discussions and I always wanted to be here. I’m glad to continue and I hope to have success in the years to come.”

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Those teams: WIth Joe Willock out with an achilles injury, Elliot Anderson comes into the Newcastle side. Harvey Barnes is also in, with Lewis Hall dropping to the bench. Jacob Murphy looks likely to play at right-back for Newcastle this afternoon, with Tino Livramento only fit enough to make the bench.

Ange Postecoglou makes one change to the side that beat Nottingham Forest last weekend. Rodrigo Bentancur is in for Pape Sarr.

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Newcastle: Dubravka, Jacob Murphy, Krafth, Schar, Burn, Longstaff, Bruno Guimaraes, Anderson, Barnes, Isak, Gordon.

Subs: Dummett, Ritchie, Karius, Hall, Livramento, Gillespie, White, Alex Murphy, Parkinson.

Tottenham Hotspur: Vicario, Porro, Romero, van de Ven, Udogie, Bissouma, Bentancur, Johnson, Maddison, Werner, Son.

Subs: Hojbjerg, Dragusin, Gil Salvatierra, Emerson, Lo Celso, Kulusevski, Sarr, Davies, Austin.

Today’s match officials

• Referee: Tim Robinson.

• Assistants: Gary Beswick and Adam Nunn.

• Fourth official: Oliver Langford.

• VAR: Stuart Attwell.

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Early team news

Newcastle’s injury woes have been well documented and the list of their lame, halt and suspended is a long one. Sven Botman, Jamaal Lascelles, Lewis Miley, Callum Wilson, Joelinton, Nick Pope, Joe Willock, Sandro Tonali, Tino Livramento and Kieran Trippier are all unavailable, while fringe players Matt Targett and Lewis Hall are due to be assessed ahead of kick-off.

Long-term Tottenham absentees Ryan Sessegnon and Manor Solomon remain out, while Richarlison is also sidelined with a knee injury. Reserve goalkeeper Fraser Forster is also out.

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With the likelihood of fifth place in the Premier League being enough to guarantee a place in next season’s Champions League diminishing, fourth-placed Tottenham travel to St James’ Park hoping to put some distance between themselves and Aston Villa, with whom they are currently level on points having played one game fewer.

Spurs ran out comfrotable winners against Nottingham Forest last time out, while injury-plagued Newcastle were somewhat fortuitous winners at Fulham. A win for Eddie Howe’s side in today’s lunchtime kick-off will send them sixth in the table, above Manchester United, having played one game more. Kick-off at St James Park is at 12.30pm but we’ll have team news and build-up in the meantime.