Newcastle vs Southampton prediction: ENGLAND: Premier League betting tips on match 2024-08-16 14:00.
[p]After Manchester United’s FA Cup win last season meant Newcastle missed out on European football this term, boss Eddie Howe can fully focus on his bid to get his side back onto the continental stage. The summer transfer window has been particularly tough for Newcastle, who continue to battle with Premier League PSR rules in a bid to strengthen their squad, but with last summer’s marquee signing Sandro Tonali nearing a return from a betting ban, things are looking up on Tyneside. [/p]
[p]The visit of newly-promoted Southampton on opening day affords them a great shot at getting their campaign off to a winning start for a third season in a row. Playing at home should suit them in search of that feat, having not tasted a league defeat at St James’ Park in their last eight competitive games (W4, D4), two of which saw them score at least four times against newly-promoted opposition![/p]
[p]Southampton seemingly face the biggest challenge of all in staying up this season, particularly after all three of the promoted sides from last season’s Premier League went straight back down. Boss Russell Martin will hope to be a little more streetwise than those three teams, and ahead of his Premier League debut as a manager, he has teased that he has a trick up his sleeve ahead of their near 300-mile trip to the North East. [/p]
[p]Martin has been astute in the transfer window, signing on a pair of last season’s play-off final winning loanees, while the free transfer additions of Charlie Taylor and the returning Adam Lallana bring with them a combined 452 Premier League appearances. Neither of those experienced heads were on the winning side when they visited St James’ Park with their respective clubs last season, and with the Saints winless in their last eight visits to this ground (D2, L6), there’s no guarantee they’ll leave victorious this term either. [/p]
[p]Players to watch: Newcastle’s Alexander Isak struck five goals last season against newly-promoted opposition, four of which came after half-time. Adam Armstrong, Southampton’s play-off final hero and boyhood Newcastle fan, has never ended up on the winning side in any of his nine meetings with his former club (D2, L7).[/p]
[p]Hot stat: Five of the last six Championship play-off final winners lost their first game of the Premier League season by at least a two-goal margin. [/p]
[p][i]Written by Chris Wilson[/i][/p]