Ahead of tonight's Carabao Cup semi-final clash with Southampton, Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe and his staff will be looking to stop one player more than any other in a Saints uniform: James Ward-Prowse.
With the Southampton ace already tallying seven goals in all competitions this season, on top of two assists, a staunch Newcastle defence will certainly have its work cut out if it wants to prevent the 28-year-old influencing the result.
Ward-Prowse has been hailed as arguably the greatest free-kick taker in the world, and despite always being deadly from range as well as set pieces, the Magpies are historically a bit of a bogey team for him.
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Despite scoring 51 goals and providing 50 assists in his 388 appearances for the Saints, in the 15 times he's played against Newcastle, Ward-Prowse has had just four goal involvements (two goals and two assists).
Of those 15 matches, he's won just five, with three draws, meaning he's been on the losing end of the result seven times against the Magpies.
Earlier this season, he played the full 90 minutes in the 4-1 thrashing at St. Mary's handed to the Saints by Howe's Magpies but was unable to come up with any game-changing moments.
After conceding just 11 times this season, just three of those being from set pieces, after the additions of Dan Burn, Kieran Trippier and Nick Pope to Howe's backline, it looks increasingly unlikely that they'd allow Ward-Prowse even a sniff of a chance of cutting their Wembley dream short.
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