Newcastle host 16th-placed Southampton this Saturday, with Rafa Benitez’s side hoping to build on their impressive 1-0 win away at Leicester that surely secured their Premier League status next season.
The Magpies currently sit in 15th, 10 points above the relegation zone and two points above their visitors from the South Coast.
While Newcastle can rest assured that their win at Leicester has given them enough points to survive, Southampton are no pushovers and travel to Tyneside in a similarly positive mood having beaten high-flying Wolves 3-1 at St Mary’s last weekend.
However, the Saints have endured a typically turbulent season, with only one win in their first 16 matches sparking the end of Mark Hughes’ 10-month reign at the club. Despite new manager Ralph Hasenhuttl improving their fortunes slightly, they still sit at the bottom end of the table and have struggled to find form both home and away.
Such has been the case for Newcastle this season, suggesting Saturday’s clash could be a war of wills between two equally inconsistent sides.
When does Newcastle vs Southampton kick off?
The game is Saturday’s late kick-off and gets under way at 5.30pm on Saturday, April 20, following five other Premier League matches, including Man City vs Tottenham.
Is Newcastle vs Southampton on TV?
The action will be broadcast live on BT Sport 1, with coverage starting at 5pm.
Of course you will still be able to follow the action with ChronicleLive on our matchday live blog.
We’ll be bringing you all the pre-match talk, live match commentary and any post-match reaction and analysis.
Who’s in the teams?
Newcastle will be without defender Florian Lejeune and midfielder Sean Longstaff due to injury.
Meanwhile, for Southampton, Mario Lemina remains sidelined as does long-term absentee Michael Obafemi.
But, with no fresh injury concerns after last weekend’s matches, both Benitez and Hasenhüttl are likely to have full squads to choose from.
Newcastle likely XI: Dubravka; Manquillo, Schar, Lascelles, Dummett, Ritchie; Hayden, Ki; Perez, Almiron; Rondon
Southampton likely XI: Gunn; Valery, Yoshida, Bednarek, Vestergaard, Bertrand; Ward-Prowse, Sims, Hojbjerg, Redmond; Ings
Who is the ref?
TBC
What are the bookies saying?
Newcastle 7/5
Southampton 2/1
Draw 21/10
Premier League table
Here's how it stands.
