Newcastle United travel to Southampton this weekend to kick-start their survival bid, on the back of a disappointing defeat to Norwich City.
When the two teams met earlier this season, Newcastle were held to a 2-2 draw after Shane Long netted, from the bench, late on.
Ahead of the game, we caught up with Luke Osman of Read Southampton, who kindly answered a few questions regarding today’s game.
Southampton have really picked up some form, after a shaky patch earlier in the season. Is your current league position better or worse than you had expected?
To be honest, during that bad spell of form, I thought we’d be lucky to finish in the top half! However, aside from that run of form, it’s hard to really say we’ve been outstanding in our best spells. Seventh flatters us, in my opinion.
Ronald Koeman took over last season and defied the odds, guiding the team to a tremendous 7th-place finish after the critics had tipped the club for relegation. How much of the success over the last two seasons is down to him?
A hell of a lot. He has come in, influenced players such as Virgil van Dijk and Fraser Forster’s arrival at the club, who have been key in recent years respectively and he has tightened the defence up a lot. He’s been great, despite some strange decisions regarding team selections.
Where do you see yourselves finishing this season – will the team push on or possibly just accept that this season has been a success?
I think seventh is the highest we’ll go, so I’d probably be inclined to say that. However, we still have to face Everton and Tottenham away from home and Manchester City at St Mary’s, so it wouldn’t surprise me if we finished eighth or ninth.
What do you think of Newcastle’s appointment of Rafa Benitez and their survival chances with not many games to go?
I think the appointment of Rafa was top quality. He’s an excellent coach and will attract good talents to the club, regardless of what league Newcastle find themselves in. I still think they’ll finish above Sunderland purely down to Benitez and Aleksandar Mitrovic; he’s excellent.
Finally, what’s your prediction for the game and who do you think will be in the top 6/bottom 6 at the end of the season?
It may come as a shock to both sets of fans, but I genuinely think Newcastle will snatch a 1-0 win. Mitrovic to score.
I think the top six will consist of Leicester winning the league, Tottenham in second, City in third, Arsenal in fourth, United taking the Europa League spot again and West Ham deservedly clinching another chance in Europe once more.
The bottom six is really hard to shout. Obviously, Villa are dead and buried at the foot of the table, but I think we’ll see Norwich drop back into the relegation zone in 19th, Sunderland to go down to 18th on the final day, Newcastle will stay up by the skin of their teeth and above will be Swansea in 16th and Crystal Palace just above.
Many thanks to Luke for taking the time to answer these questions. Tweet us with your score predictions!
