Southampton vs Newcastle United. Premier League.
St. Mary's StadiumAttendance30,096.
Southampton vs Newcastle preview
Watch match highlights on the Sky Sports app, website and Sky Sports Football YouTube channel at 5.15pm
Thursday 19 March 2020 17:50, UK
Team news, key stats and ways to follow ahead of Southampton vs Newcastle in the Premier League.
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Team news
Southampton will have winger Moussa Djenepo available again for the clash with Newcastle. The Mali international missed the defeat at West Ham after being given compassionate leave after the death of his mother.
Striker Danny Ings is in contention to return to the starting line-up, but Stuart Armstrong is out following a concussion. Will Smallbone is laid low by illness and winger Nathan Redmond (hip) remains sidelined.
- Jonjo Shelvey, Matt Ritchie commit future to Newcastle
- Steve Bruce rages at report over Saint-Maximin story
Newcastle head coach Steve Bruce will make a late check on full-back Javier Manquillo after he complained of soreness following two starts since his return from a hamstring injury. Manquillo played the full 90 minutes against Burnley last Saturday and then in the FA Cup fifth-round victory at West Brom in midweek having been out since New Year's Day.
Bruce left out Martin Dubravka, Federico Fernandez, Jonjo Shelvey, Isaac Hayden and Dwight Gayle at the Hawthorns, who will all hope to return, while defenders Ciaran Clark (ankle ligaments), Paul Dummett (hamstring), Jetro Willems (knee ligaments) and Emil Krafth (ankle) and striker Andy Carroll (hamstring) are still out.
How to follow
Follow the match in our dedicated live blog, while highlights will also be published on the Sky Sports digital platforms and the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel at 5.15pm.
Opta stats
- Southampton are winless in five Premier League games against Newcastle (D2 L3) since a 3-1 win in April 2016 under Ronald Koeman.
- Newcastle are looking to record only their second Premier League double over Southampton, only achieving it previously during the 2004-05 season under Graeme Souness.
- Newcastle have won their last two Premier League games against Southampton - the Magpies have never beaten Saints in three consecutive league games in their history.
- Only Liverpool (eight) and Manchester City (five) have won more Premier League games so far in 2020 than Southampton (four). However, only West Ham and Bournemouth (five each) have lost more games this calendar year than Saints (four).
- Newcastle have failed to score in each of their last four Premier League games; only once in their history have they gone more consecutive top-flight games without a goal (six between October-December 1988).
- Since the start of last season, Newcastle have had more 0-0 draws in the Premier League than any other side (seven), with two of the Magpies' last four games ending goalless.
- Since the start of February, Newcastle have had 54 shots (13 on target) in four Premier League matches but have failed to score a single goal. In that time, only eight sides have had more efforts than the Magpies, though only three have had fewer attempts on target.
- Newcastle have scored a league-low 24 Premier League goals this season but have had 13 different goalscorers, meaning 54 per cent of their goals have been netted by different players (excluding own goals).
- Newcastle manager Steve Bruce has never won an away league match against Southampton in six previous attempts, drawing two and losing four of his visits to the St Mary's Stadium.
- No player has scored in more different Premier League games this season than Danny Ings, with the striker scoring in 14 of Southampton's 28 Premier League games.
Charlie Nicholas' prediction
Both of these teams have impressed me in different ways. Southampton's away form has generally been very good and Ralph Hasenhuttl has turned them around since the Leicester defeat in October. We applaud the form of Danny Ings this season, and it was a surprise that he was left out from the start against West Ham last weekend.
I don't think that's going to happen again here, but Southampton's home form is pretty dismal. They don't know how to break teams down, and Newcastle will be organised and well-drilled.
I don't see either team in relegation trouble although at the moment, they'll still feel it. I can't separate them.
CHARLIE PREDICTS: 1-1 (6/1 with Sky Bet)
