Newcastle United will travel to the south coast of England to lock horns with Southampton at the St. Mary’s Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The Magpies will come into this clash on the back of a hard-fought 3-2 victory over West Bromwich Albion in the FA Cup.
Steve Bruce will hope that his players can build on the midweek cup win by claiming maximum points versus Ralph Hasenhüttl’s men this weekend. The Tyneside outfit will set up in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Isaac Hayden and Jonjo Shelvey expected to return to Bruce’s starting XI.
4-2-3-1 Newcastle United Predicted Lineup Vs Southampton
Defence
Martin Dúbravka will hope to put in a solid performance in between the sticks for the Magpies after he was given a rest in midweek. Jamaal Lascelles will resume his defensive partnership with Federico Fernandez at the centre of the Newcastle backline.
Danny Rose is a nailed-on starter in the left-back position while Javier Manquillo operates on the other side as the right-back. Bruce will instruct both his full-backs to keep a good defensive shape so that they can restrict the Saints from causing problems out on the wide areas.
Emil Krafth is unlikely to recover in time to feature in this game. However, Bruce should have DeAndre Yedlin available for selection on the bench.
Midfield
Jonjo Shelvey and Isaac Hayden will assume the duties of the holding midfielders as they focus on providing adequate protection to the backline. The talented trio of Allan Saint-Maximin, Miguel Almiron and Matt Ritchie will operate just ahead of them as part of Bruce’s attack.
Almiron managed to score a brace in the 3-2 win over the Baggies, so he will be quietly confident about putting in another impressive display on Saturday.
Attack
Dwight Gayle will get another opportunity to spearhead the Magpies attack up top. He will look to work his socks off and make intelligent runs in behind the Saints backline. The 29-year-old marksman has still not found the back of the net this season, so a goal this weekend could do wonders for his confidence heading into the business end of this campaign.
Joelinton will have to settle for a spot on the Newcastle bench but could get a chance to influence the game if Bruce calls upon his services.
