Newcastle United will entertain Southampton at St. James Park on Saturday evening looking to get maximum points on board so that they can avoid being dragged into a relegation dogfight in the coming weeks. The Magpies are currently sitting seven points above 18th-placed Cardiff City with just four matches left to play this season.
Hence, another win at home could see them steer clear of the drop zone, so Rafael Benitez needs to come up with the right formula to get the job done for the Tyneside outfit this weekend. Newcastle could lineup in a 3-4-2-1 formation with Benitez set to name an unchanged side versus the Saints.
3-4-2-1 Newcastle United Predicted Lineup To Face Southampton
Defence
Martin Dúbravka will take his place in between the sticks for Newcastle after he kept a well-deserved clean sheet against Leicester City last weekend. Benitez might choose to opt for the back three of Paul Dummett, Jamaal Lascelles and Fabian Schär as they try to keep things tidy at the defensive end and restrict the Saints from scoring a goal on Saturday evening.
The Magpies defenders will be up against Shane Long and Nathan Redmond who have both been amongst the goals for Southampton in recent weeks. Furthermore, they might also have to face off against Danny Ings who has a knack for scoring important goals for the Saints. Hence, Benitez’s defenders would need to be at their best if they are to stop the away side from scoring this weekend.
Midfield
Ki Sung-Yueng and Isacc Hayden could feature at the centre of the pitch as they try to retain possession and create some decent opportunities for the front players. Matt Ritchie will look to stretch the Saints backline while operating down the left flank. Javier Manquillo might get another start as a right wing back as the Spaniard tends to be a better defender than DeAndre Yedlin on the right side of the Newcastle midfield.
Ritchie has been Benitez’s best creative force from midfield so he will once again carry the workload of facilitating play for the likes of Rondon, Perez and Almiron in the opposing half.
Attack
The talented duo of Miguel Almiron and Ayoze Perez could play on the shoulders of Salomon Rondon who is expected to spearhead Benitez’s attack up front. Perez scored the only goal of the game during Newcastle’s 1-0 win over the Foxes last Saturday which should give him some much-needed boost in confidence heading into this clash versus the South-coast outfit.
