Saints make their longest journey of the season up to the North-East as they face Newcastle United away at St.James’ Park with both sides searching for points to keep themselves away from the relegation zone.
Both sides need a win to keep themselves clear of danger as only one point and one place in the table separate the sides.
Relegation following promotion will be a complete disaster for Newcastle, whereas for Saints they simply HAVE to stay in the division at the very least to make the work done over the last couple of seasons worth something.
Why Southampton will win
What may help Saints in their bid to stay up is their away form which, of recent, has been better than home form. Two wins away at West Brom and a draw up at Burnley recently will give the boys confidence on the road in a game that they must leave with three points.
Despite a dire performance against Stoke on the weekend, improvement is clear to see and we are still on a run of one defeat in ten matches, of course our problem is turning the draws into wins!
We have few injury concerns and youngster Josh Sims could be a bright spark if he starts in the north east on Saturday as his two most recent performances have been brilliant to see!
Next: Is Graham Potter a possible replacement for Pellegrino?
Why Newcastle will win:
Like Saints, Newcastle are on a bit of a good run despite losing away at Liverpool last weekend. However, it was a respectable score as other sides have been given a much bigger thumping away at Anfield.
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The Magpies haven’t had a home fixture for almost a month now and their last home game was actually a 1-0 win against Manchester United! Rafa Benitez’s side also took a 2-0 lead away at in-form Bournemouth recently but couldn’t hold on for the win and so they’ll see that game as two points lost.
Also like Southampton, you can’t really predict who will score for Newcastle as they don’t really have the front men to put the ball in the back of the net on a regular basis. However, they are good defenders and so you can’t see the away side scoring more than one or two.
Predicted line-ups:
Southampton:
Goalkeeper: McCarthy
Defenders: Cedric, Hoedt, Stephens, Bertrand
Midfielders: Lemina, Romeu Sims, Tadic, Redmond
Striker: Carrillo
Newcastle:
Goalkeeper: Dubravka
Defenders: Dummet, Lejune, Lascelles, Yedlin
Midfielders: Kennedy, Diame, Merino, Ritchie
Stikers: Gayle, Atsu
Prediction: Newcastle 0-1 Southampton