Newcastle vs Southampton: Can Magpies keep impressive run going?

Topics: TV Schedules, TV Listings, Newcastle United, Southampton, League Cup

Newcastle will hope that their narrow 1-0 lead from the first leg of their League Cup semi-final will be enough to see them past Southampton when the two sides meet on Tuesday.

Newcastle arguably have been one of the surprise packages so far this season. The Magpies currently sit in a very impressive third spot, meaning that Eddie Howe's team are in contention for Champions League football, while they are on the cusp of facing Manchester United in this season's EFL Cup final after recording a narrow 1-0 win over Southampton in the first leg.

Howe's men, who will serve as hosts, come into this game having continued their solid start since the start of 2023. The Magpies have won four of their last five matches across all comps, with only a surprise 2-1 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday being the slight blemish during that run. While that means that they won't be proceeding in the FA Cup after being eliminated in the third round by the aforementioned opponents, that really won't matter much as they are literally two games away from ending a long wait for a major title that has dated back to the 1954/55 season, when they clinched the FA Cup.

Newcastle last featured in the EFL Cup final back in 1976, so should they, as many expect, achieve this by avoiding a loss to Southampton on Tuesday, it will be a long time coming for many of their fans. Having kept a highly impressive eight straight clean sheets on home turf, confidence will be high among the hosts that they will be able to do just enough to see off Southampton, especially considering the Saints' poor form all season.

The visitors presently sit bottom of the Premier League, with just 15 points earned so far this season and unless they are able to pull off some sort of revival, Southampton are looking set to be relegated at the conclusion of the 2022/23 term. While there may be some glimmer of hope as they did pick up a win recently - beating Blackpool 2-1 in the FA Cup, the Saints have struggled to beat Newcastle at Saint James's Park, with zero wins from their last six trips.

Team news: Newcastle vs Southampton

Newcastle: Jonjo Shelvey, Emil Krafth and Matt Targett are all out for this match. New signing Anthony Gordon could feature, but it's highly unlikely as he only just moved from Everton - so if he does, it could be from the subs' bench.

Southampton: Moussa Djenepo is a doubt after sustaining what may have been a concussion during the reverse tie, while Juan Larios, Valentino Livramento and Alex McCarthy are all out.