Newcastle United 0-2 Tottenham Hotspur as it happened

Full-time: Newcastle United 0-2 Tottenham Hotspur

Kane hits the post! The striker is fed clean through by Alli and fires across goal, beating Eliot, but not beating the woodwork. Moments later he rolls the ball into the net after being teed up by Son but the offside flag is up.

Harry Winks is on for Dembele with three minutes of time added on at St James' Park.

Ben Davies is now shown a yellow card and Richie has a chance to deliver a cross into the middle from the free kick. It's only partially cleared as far as Clark who smashes a clean volley on goal but it is straight at Lloris.

Tottenham have become a bit sloppy with the clock counting down and it has allowed Newcastle to enjoy their best spell of the game with Atsu looking particularly bright in these closing stages.

Dwight Gayle, who has worked hard this afternoon for no reward, is given a breather as Mikel Merino comes onto replace him as Bentiez's last change.

Spurs cruising now. Kane and Eriksen combine brilliantly with a neat one two to break into the box but just as the former goes to collect a return, Ben Davies forces his way in and drives through the legs of Eliot with a smart finish.

Goal! Newcastle 0-2 Tottenham (Ben Davies)

Newcastle have had the air knocked out of them now and are looking pretty lifeless. This could be a comfortable final 25 minutes for Spurs.

Well, it's been coming. Eriksen and Kane exchange neat passes outside the box, with the Dane taking over to swing in another beauty of a ball to pick out Alli's excellent run. Eliot rushes out to claim but the England international gets their first, hooking a volley into the far corner.

Goal! Newcastle United 0-1 Tottenham Hotspur (Dele Alli, 60)

First change for Tottenham, Sissoko is replaced by Heung-min Son. Sissoko stops to lap up the boos cascading down from around St James' Park, applauding the crowd. Good, that.

As you might expect, it is all Tottenham now with that one man advantage in hand. Newcastle are struggling to get out of their half.

That Shelvey incident looks worse every time you see it. The Newcastle captain reached to try and pull Alli up from the turf. When he refused, he stamped on him instead. Ridiculous.

In the build-up to that, Alli was targeted again by Matt Richie, taking the Spurs star's ankle while getting nowhere near the ball. Following Eliot's superb save, he was booked.

What a save from Eliot! Eriksen's attempted diagonal ball takes a wicked deflection that drops it into the path of Kane. He has to adjust himself to meet it but fires on goal from point blank range, only to be denied by an instinctive stop by the Newcastle goalkeeper.

That was idiotic from Shelvey. With Dele Alli down, the former Liverpool midfielder leans down to the Spurs midfielder and very deliberately steps down on his ankle. Right under the referee's nose. Rafa Benitez has already lost two players two injury, another one is gone now.

RED CARD: Jonjo Shelvey (Newcastle United)

And we are back underway for the second half.

Half-time: Newcastle United 0-0 Tottenham Hotspur

Spurs are struggling to pick through Newcastle at the minute so Eriksen decides to take matters into his own hands, curling one on goal from 25 yards but it's a relatively comfortable save for Eliot.

Mbemba does well right away, nicking the ball from Dele Alli and driving up the other end before winning a foul from the Spurs midfielder.

Lejeune's game is over, Chancel Mbemba is onto replace him.

Lejeune looks in some pain, he's limping off to get some treatment but that could be the last we see of him today.

Harry Kane picks up a yellow card for a challenge that has left Lejeune in a heap. That was a pretty nasty one from the Spurs captain, catching the Newcastle debutant on the follow through with a scissor challenge.

Atsu embarks on am ambitious run down the inside left and manages to sneak a ball in under pressure from Alderweireld. It comes as a surprise to almost everyone, including Gayle who didn't make a run into the middle thinking the chance had gone.

Close from Eriksen! The Dane works a yard of space in front of Lascelles and looks for the bottom corner, but his effort veers just away from the far post.

Good stuff from Walker-Peters as he races down the right, beating his man before lifting a decent cross into the box. Sissoko connects with it, but whacks a wild effort over the bar.

Walker-Peters is bundled over to give Spurs a free kick out on the right flank. Eriksen whips in a dream of a cross towards Kane but he can't get a clean connection on his header and Elliot gratefully collects.

Two Newcastle players go up to head the same ball. 'PUT YOUR NAME ON IT!!' bellow Sunday league managers watching on across the country.

Gayle goes down in the box after appearing to be clipped by Walker-Peters but the flag is already up for offside. The former Palace man made his run a little too early to latch onto Shelvey's free-kick and saved the referee a tricky decision.

Slick, patient stuff from Spurs; Eriksen keeps things ticking over in midfield before flinging a superb lofted through ball for Alli who has made a smart run into the box. He tries to knock it onto Kane with a first-time pass but he doesn't quite get the pace on it to find his teammate.

Jamaal Lascelles immediately puts himself to good use, hurling himself in the way of Dembele's shot from the edge of the box. Tottenham are starting to settle down now.

There's an early blow for Newcastle, Paul Dummett is having to come off after picking up a knock. Jamaal Lascelles is onto replace him.

Harry Kane now ventures into the box, wriggling away from a few challenges with Sissoko breaking into space inside the box. Kane doesn't see him however and eventually loses possession.

Half a chance for Gayle! Newcastle work a neat free kick that sees Dummett loft a ball into the former Crystal Palace man just inside the box, but he can't keep his half volley down and fires over.

Sissoko fails to trap a pass from Alli and loses possession for Spurs. St James' Park roars in delight.

Newcastle have the early share of possession with Dwight Gayle attempting a tricky reverse lofted though pass for Perez but there is just too much pace on it and the ball trickles out of play.

Here we go, Newcastle get us underway at St James' Park.

We are almost ready to get underway on a beautiful day at the north east.

Kyle Walker-Peters makes his Tottenham debut this afternoon, coming in for the injured Kieran Trippier at right-back with Ben Davies continuing at left-back in place of the injured Danny Rose.

Victor Wanyama, whose pre-season was disrupted by an injury, starts on the bench with Eric Dier taking up a familiar role in midfield. Son Heung-min is also still recovering from a knock with Moussa Sissoko replacing him in attack against his former club. Harry Kane of course leads the line with Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli in support.

Harry Winks, who missed the final months of last season with an ankle injury, is on the bench.

Paul Dummett is the sole survivor of the Newcastle team that thrashed Spurs 5-1 at St James' Park on the final day of the 2015-16 season.

Florian Dejeune and Javier Manquillo are both given their Premier League debuts for the club with the Spaniard starting on the right-hand side of defence. Christian Atsu, signed permanent from Chelsea this summer, starts in attack supporting Dwight Gayle who is fit enough to start today.

New signings Florian Lejeune and Jacob Murphy start on the bench.

Newcastle team to face Tottenham: Spurs: Elliot; Manquillo, Clark, Lejuene, Dummett; Ritchie, Hayden, Shelvey, Atsu; Perez, Gayle.

Subs: Darlow, Lascelles, Murphy, Aarons, Mbemba, Merino, Mitrovic

Tottenham team to face Newcastle: Lloris (C), Walker-Peters, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Davies, Dier, Dembele, Sissoko, Eriksen, Dele, Kane.

Subs: Vorm, Carter-Vickers, Wimmer, Wanyama, Winks, Son, Janssen

BREAKING: Dwight Gayle starts up front for Newcastle having recovered from hamstring problem.

BREAKING: Kyle Walker-Peters comes in at right-back in place of the injured Kieran Trippier. Eric Dier starts in midfield with Victor Wanyama on the bench.

Tottenham and Newcastle share a similar problem at the moment; both have squads that haven't undergone significant strengthening during a pivotal summer for both clubs. There are important differences, however.

Tottenham are the only top flight club still to sign a player this summer. With the club's ongoing development of their new stadium taking precedent and a rigid wage structure preventing them from matching their rivals in the transfer market, they have stood still while those around them have made huge strides forward.

Manager Mauricio Pochettino has accepted this, however. The manager – for now – has realises the reality the club find themselves in.

That's not quite the case for Rafa Benitez, however. The former Liverpool manager insists he owes it to his staff and the supporters to remain at the club after last season's promotion but his ambition has not been matched by Mike Ashley and the Newcastle United board.

For us, this summer was crucial," Benitez said. "We needed to bring more players in but we couldn't get them. This has been a problem; now we have to find solutions."
So far, Javier Manquillo, Florian Lejeune, Jacob Murphy, Mikel Merino and Christian Atsu have arrived for roughly the same fee the club received for Moussa Sissoko last summer with reports suggesting Benitez must sell before he can buy again. It's a dysfunctional arrangement that rarely bodes well.

Dwight Gayle's fitness is the big talking point ahead of kick-off as far as Newcastle are concerned.

Gayle missed several matches with hamstring complaints during the 2016-17, although Rafael Benitez was quick to stress that it is not a repeat of those issues but more a "feeling" of lingering discomfort that has left Newcastle not wanting to take any risks after deciding to leave him out of their final pre-season match.

Speaking to the press on Friday, Benitez confirmed the striker had featured in training this week and has been making progress. We'll know whether he has done enough to convince his manager he can start very shortly.

Moussa Sissoko left St James' Park on transfer deadline day last summer for Tottenham in a deal that would later be regarded as the worst transfer of the season.

Chances of him remaining in north London seemed to be between slim to nothing at the start of the summer but today, Sissoko could line up in the starting Xi against his former club.

With Trippier unavailable, Pochettino suggested at a press conference on Friday he could Look to the Frenchman to fill on the right. England Under-21 international Kyle Walker-Peters is his other option. The Spurs boss told reporters:

Team news: Newcastle United

Newcastle's only real injury concern ahead of kickoff is Dwight Gayle. The former Crystal Palace striker suffered a hamstring injury in last week's friendly against Hellas Verona but did return to training earlier this week.

Should Rafa Benitez opt not to risk his first choice forward, Aleksandar Mitrović is waiting in the wings.

Team news: Tottenham

Danny Rose and Erik Lamela are still sidelined with their respective long-term injures.

Rose has not played for the club since the end of January when he suffered a knee ligament injury in a goalless draw against Sunderland that required him to see a specialist and undergo surgery during the summer.

The England international is not expected to return until October but also threw his future at the club in doubt in a tell-all interview released on Thursday where he questioned the club's ambition transfer policy. Rose has since apologised to his Tottenham teammates for his "ill-judged" comments.

Lamela meanwhile has not featured since October 2016 due to a mysterious hip problem. The Argentina international also went under the knife to address the problem over the summer and is expected to miss the opening weeks of the new season.

Team news: Tottenham

Mauricio Pochettino is without his new first-choice right back in Kieran Trippier this afternoon. The former Burnley defender limped out of the pre-season win over Juventus with an ankle problem with a scan later revealing minor ligament damage. The club however are confident it isn't a long term issue.

Georges-Kévin Nkoudo, who enjoyed an impressive preseason campaign after barely featuring last term, is also absent due to a foot injury.

Last time Newcastle United hosted Tottenham at St James' Park they were on their way back down to the Championship. They gave their fans one last good day out though that season, putting five past a Spurs side that capitulated wildly after their title challenge collapsed.

Newcastle's latest bid to become a permanent Premier League force again comes with the usual feelings of uncertainty emanating from the dugout. Rafa Benitez insists he will stay at the club but admits he isn't happy over the the lack of backing he's received in his quest to turn the club back into a force again.

Tottenham meanwhile are the only club in the top flight yet to sign a player this summer with Danny Rose's recent criticism of the club's transfer policy still ringing loud. An emphatic reminder of what Mauricio Pochettino's current crop can do today might help ease those concerns.

Stick around, all your team news is on the way.