We've proved we can beat the big teams, says Dúbravka

United’s first win of the season came against Spurs back in August, when Joelinton’s first Premier League goal sealed a memorable 1-0 victory on their first visit to the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Dúbravka kept his first clean sheet of the campaign on that occasion, and the 31-year-old is hopeful his side can produce a repeat performance in what is their penultimate home game of what has been a long 2019/20.

“It is another difficult opponent to play against – they have quality players and a quality manager as well, but we have proved that we can beat these big teams,” he said.

“It’s nice thing of the Premier League that even the outsiders can beat the favourite teams, so we will try to do that, especially at home. We have had a good run of games at St. James’ Park, so why not try to do it again?

Dúbravka added: “We always have preparation for the game. We always know what kind of football they are trying to play, what is their threat, but on the other side, we are trying to also build up our performances and our style of the game.

“It’s just trying to find the balance between how to play against these teams. It’s always difficult to play against quality names like Harry Kane, but they have a couple of other quality players as well. It’s going to be another tough game, but it is up to us to try to fight and try to win the game.”

Dúbravka was beaten by a pair of Troy Deeney penalties at Watford on Saturday as Steve Bruce’s side slipped to a 2-1 defeat at Vicarage Road.

And the Slovakian international is keen for the Magpies to try and end this term on a high note as they bid to sneak into the top half of the Premier League table before the campaign’s end in just over a week’s time.

“We did well in our previous games, and then played against (Manchester) City and it changed a little bit the view of ourselves – but it was a tough one,” he said.

“The last game against Watford, with the penalties, was again a bit unlucky for us but I think we are in a platform where we would like to be for the season – but obviously, we are trying to be as high as possible. It’s a mix of feelings now, but I really hope we can collect some points and try to be as high as possible in the table.

“We still have three more games, and we’d definitely like to collect as much points as possible. We play the next game at home, at St. James’ Park, which could be to our advantage, but I really hope that we can play similar like we played last time against Tottenham.

“I really hope that after the game it will be the same result as well.”