Newcastle v Southampton preview: Saints' relegation fears grow
A 4-1 win at Goodison Park put them eight points clear in the top four with a game in hand, while marking their seventh victory in eight outings.
Now the focus of Eddie Howe’s men will be to register a fourth straight home win – one that every sportsbook seems to expect.
The crowd certainly did their bit in the Magpies’ most recent Premier League (PL) home outing, with the Tynesiders 5-0 up against fellow UCL spot contenders Tottenham by half-time, a game which eventually finished 6-1.
That only contributes further to their overwhelming status as favourites, though amazingly, October 29th still marks the last time Newcastle won both individual halves of a PL home game.
But there is much to suggest that this will change here against bottom club Southampton, especially after the Saints fell 1-0 at home to Bournemouth on Thursday which made it no win in eight.
Above all else, it is hard to ignore the Saints’ poor PL record as an underdog this term (W6, D5, L17), amongst which is a 4-1 thrashing in November’s reverse H2H.
Alarmingly for the visitors, they’ve also let in 3+ goals every time in a recent trio of clashes against sides in the top seven, seemingly making it a question of ‘how many’.
That said, a late collapse against Arsenal (D 3-3) is the only time across the Saints’ previous five road trips that they have conceded multiple times, providing some slender hope of a shock result.
Players to watch: Jacob Murphy has quadrupled his PL goal tally for 2022/23 in Newcastle’s last two matches alone, with a brace inside ten minutes against Spurs before rounding off the scoring against Everton.
As for the Saints’ potential heroes, Theo Walcott has netted decisively in each of his two latest goalscoring clashes against Newcastle.
Hot stat: Newcastle are the only side yet to concede a PL goal beyond the 75th minute at home.
