Southampton welcome Newcastle United to St Mary’s Stadium in the first leg of their 2022-23 Carabao Cup semi-final.
Victory would put either Southampton or Newcastle in pole position going into the second leg to qualify for the Final.
Team News
Stuart Armstrong is set to be ruled out again for Southampton after he missed their last three games with a minor groin injury.
Alex McCarthy (knee) and Armel Bella-Kotchap (knee) could be available for selection but Valentino Livramento (knee) and Juan Larios (adductor) remain absent.
Jan Bednarek could start in defence after manager, Nathan Jones opted to recall him from his loan spell at Aston Villa.
Newcastle will have Bruno Guimaraes available after he unexpectedly made a quick return from an ankle injury in their goalless draw at Crystal Palace, of which he came through without further injury.
Emil Krafth (knee), Jonjo Shelvey (calf) and Matt Targett (heel) remain absent.
When is Kick-Off?
Southampton host Newcastle in the first leg at St Mary’s Stadium on Tuesday 24 January at 8pm GMT, live on Sky Sports in UK.
Stat Attack
- Southampton won their only previous League Cup meeting against Newcastle (W1), prevailing 4-1 in September 1968 at their former home – The Dell
- Newcastle lost their only previous League Cup visit to Southampton (L1), although this is their first League Cup tie against Southampton to be played at St Mary’s Stadium.
- Southampton have won just one of their last six home matches against Newcastle in all competitions (W1, D2, L3).
- Four of Southampton’s eight goals in this competition this season were scored by Che Adams, who netted twice against Cambridge United and Lincoln City respectively.
- Eddie Howe’s Magpies have conceded just one goal in this season’s Carabao Cup, which came in their 2-1 win at Tranmere in the Second Round.
Prediction
Recent weeks have seen Southampton finally make a turning point but they were unfortunate to lose to Villa on Saturday, in a game where they played well overall but just lacked that legal final touch to score so I am hopeful that they can respond here.
Newcastle meanwhile haven’t had the best of luck of goal in recent weeks and were stubbornly denied at Palace through poor end product to strong dominant attacks, yet have fared well in recent visits to St Mary’s so should be confident of a result here if can tidy up their finishing touch.
Now if both teams can build upon the positives of their performances at the weekend but show more clinical smoothness in their finishing, I reckon that we could well have a decent contest on the cards here.
Newcastle though aren’t in FA Cup action this coming weekend so I do expect them to go slightly stronger which could give them the edge, especially given their recent form on the South Coast.
Prediction: Southampton 1-2 Newcastle
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