Southampton v Newcastle - Match Preview

Newcastle play Southampton in what has been a notoriously difficult venue for the Magpies. Successive no-shows on the South Coast coupled with a dreadful away run of eight losses in a row leave little hope that Newcastle will leave St. Mary’s with three points. Sadly, these such records, quite frankly, have to be destroyed if Newcastle are going to have any chance of staying up this season. Paul Merson, while an oaf, is correct in his assessment. If Newcastle do not win, and Norwich do, it’s on to Burton Albion…

There has been an upturn in form for the Toon, even if it hasn’t yielded any results. Rafael Benitez has injected a degree of energy, ushered in a more potent attack, and made decisive substitutions at the right time. But the poor guy can only work with what he has got. He still has a team that cannot defend to save their lives. And he also has a team that is bitterly short on confidence.

This manifested most strikingly in the game against Norwich, where one saw a team that actually believed in the players around them, unlike another team who had absolutely zero faith in the abilities of their teammates. Much is made of Newcastle “as a bunch of individuals”, and this is surely correct. What lies behind that, though, is not a “bad attitude” – rife though that may be. It is that each player has zero confidence in the other, which means they don’t work together, and they don’t play for each other. Benitez has to find a way to remedy that.

Team News:

I haven’t read an updated news piece about who is or isn’t available, but suffice to say that Mitrovic must, and surely will start. Hopefully (said with grain of salt) Coloccini is back, as he is marginally more proficient than Taylor or Lascelles. I’ve been banging this drum all season, but surely Siem De Jong has earned a place in the starting line up. Gini Wijnaldum has been absolutely absent in the no. 10 slot, and De Jong’s link up play is surely necessary to feed a malnourished attack. I’d play Wijnaldum alongside Shelvey. We have to go for it, after all.

Game Plan:

Newcastle have to take it to Southampton, for their defence is nowhere near stable enough to soak up pressure. But my fear is that Southampton will dominate the game anyway. The Saints are inconsistent, but Newcastle are consistently useless. If a team needs to get out of a slump, the Toon is the team to play.

Mitrovic has called for more crosses into the box, and that should be provided by Townsend. I would absolutely play Sissoko at LB – he is no worse than Anita or Colback, and this would allow Benitez to play Perez out wide. Surely Rafa needs as many attacking players on the field as possible.

Prediction:

Not confident. Maybe a point. But it won’t be enough.