Eddie Howe gets double fitness and availability boost ahead of Spurs v Newcastle United | OneFootball

It is Spurs v Newcastle United on Saturday, as Eddie Howe and his players look to make it six wins in a row.

United with a rapid North London double, as they then play at Arsenal on Tuesday night, the away leg of the Carabao Cup semi-finals.

All to play for, both in the Premier League and League Cup, these two quickfire games against the two North London clubs potentially pivotal.

As well as long-term injured Callum Wilson, Jamaal Lascelles and Nick Pope, Eddie Howe will also have Fabian Schar unavailable for both of these upcoming matches. The Swiss defender misses the Tottenham game due to a one match suspension for picking up five yellows within the opening 19 PL games, whilst Schar also misses the Arsenal first leg due to a match ban after picking up two yellows in the League Cup.

In more positive news though, a double boost reported on Thursday afternoon.

The usually very reliable Craig Hope at The Mail says that Kieran Trippier is fine , despite getting treatment on the pitch and eventually getting replaced by Tino Livramento at Old Trafford.

Especially with these games against Spurs and Arsenal only three days apart, important for Eddie Howe to have as many first team contenders as possible available.

The arguably even better news is that the man from The Mail says that Sven Botman is ‘fit and ready to go’ ahead of the Tottenham match, his information is that Botman has declared himself ready to make his playing comeback for the Spurs game and it is now up to Eddie Howe and his backroom staff to decide when to press that particular button.

Eddie Howe has recently said that Emil Krafth is getting close to a playing return and he has filled in at right centre-back before. However, even if he was available for Saturday, I can’t see any way Krafth would be thrown straight in against Spurs.

Sven Botman on the other hand has been back in full training for some weeks now and it is 17 days since he played for an hour when Newcastle reserves defeated Chelsea reserves 3-2. So maybe not impossible we could see the Dutch defender involved in one or both of these matches coming up.

Interesting to see what happens with Trippier and Livramento, I think ever chance one of them starts against Tottenham and the other against Arsenal.

With central defence though and who partner Dan Burn, I think the smart money will be on Lloyd Kelly coming in and starting both games. Potentially Sven Botman set to be used off the bench in one or both of these next two games, in my opinion.

Newcastle United upcoming matches:

Saturday 4 January – Tottenham v Newcastle (12.30pm) TNT Sports

Tuesday 7 January – Arsenal v Newcastle (8pm) Sky Sports and ITV1 and ITVX

Sunday 12 January – Newcastle v Bromley (3pm) BBC iPlayer (FA Cup)

Wednesday 15 January – Newcastle v Wolves (7.30pm) TNT Sports

Saturday 18 January – Newcastle v Bournemouth (12.30pm) TNT Sports

Saturday 25 January – Southampton v Newcastle (3pm)

Saturday 1 February – Newcastle v Fulham (3pm)

Wednesday 5 February – Newcastle v Arsenal (8pm) Sky Sports