Newcastle United welcome Southampton to St James Park as both teams look to move closer towards Premier League safety.
A win will all but mathematically secure survival for the Magpies whilst Southampton can edge closer towards their target of 40 points with a result here.
Team news
Embed from Getty ImagesNewcastle have no fresh injury concerns with Florian Lejeune and Sean Longstaff both sidelined until next season with knee injuries.
Southampton could be without four players for the trip north after a difficult season has begun to take its toll on the squad.
Alex McCarthy, Yan Valery, Matt Targett and Jannik Vestergaard have all encountered minor issues during the week but only Vestergaard is unlikely to feature this weekend, instead being rested ahead of Tuesday’s trip to Watford.
Mario Lemina meanwhile is set to return after a few months out with an abdominal injury, but is unlikely to be risked here.
Michael Obafemi meanwhile is close to resuming first-team training after a thigh injury but won’t be rushed back.
Form
Newcastle enter this game with seven points from their last five outings which included a five match winning home run ended by Crystal Palace a fortnight ago.
Southampton meanwhile have won four of their last six games but only one of those came away from St Marys, when they beat Brighton by a single goal.
On their travels, the Saints have taken seven points from their last five away trips with six goals from five different goalscorers. Only James Ward-Prowse has scored twice during this run.
Stat Attack
- Three out of last five meetings have ended in draws with both teams also winning one match apiece.
- September’s meeting was the first time in 52 meetings that this fixture had a goalless draw since December 1972.
- From 17 Premier League meetings between these teams at St James Park, six Newcastle players have netted braces in this fixture (Matt Ritchie, Alan Shearer x 2, Duncan Ferguson, John Barnes, Steve Watson and Andy Cole).
- Solomon Rondon has produced the most shots for Newcastle this season, producing 74 shots compared to last season’s top shot maker – Ayoze Perez who managed 60 shots throughout whole of last season.
- Newcastle’s Martin Dubravka and Alex McCarthy have faced a combined eight penalties between them this season with neither managing a save.
Prediction
This should be an interesting game because I can see Newcastle going defensive here and playing off the counter if Southampton start as quickly as they have done in recent matches..
A draw therefore looks likely in my opinion because both teams are almost safe and will finish in lower half so no need to go and waste points here.
Prediction: Newcastle United 1-1 Southampton
Jake predicts: Newcastle United 2-0 Southampton
Result: Newcastle United 3-1 Southampton
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