Premier League 
Newcastle will be aiming to continue their push for a spot in the Champions League on Sunday afternoon as they are set to host struggling Southampton at St James’ Park.
The Magpies currently look poised to finish inside the top four as they sit in 3rd place in the table, with an eight-point gap between themselves and Tottenham who are currently in 5th position.
If Eddie Howe’s side do manage to hold onto their spot in the Champions League places, it will be the first time they have played in the competition since the 2002/03 season and just the third time they have featured in the competition in their history.
Newcastle come into this weekend on the back of a highly impressive run of form, which has seen them record seven victories from their last eight league games. Last weekend, the Magpies put on their biggest win of the season as they demolished fellow Champions League contenders Tottenham Hotspur.
In arguably, the most impressive display of the season, Newcastle found themselves 5-0 up after 21 minutes as the game finished 6-1 to the Magpies. Eddie Howe’s side were able to follow up this victory with another convincing display as they came away from Goodison Park with a 4-1 victory.
It’s been a miserable season so far for Southampton and their supporters. Three managers, just six wins and 21 defeats from their 33 league games, and the Saints now face the real possibility of falling out of the premier league for the first time in over a decade.
Ruben Selles’ side come into this weekend on the back of a terrible run of form that has seen them record just three points from their last eight games in the Premier League. However, it should be noted that all three of these points were gained in draws against teams who are vying for Champions League football.
The Saints were in action on Thursday evening as they hosted Bournemouth in a relegation six-pointer. After late VAR drama denied Southampton a point aa a late Che Adams leveller was ruled out for offside.
Newcastle have dominated this fixture in recent years and have only lost one of the last thirteen meetings of the two sides in all competitions. These sides most recently clashed in the League Cup semi-final, where the Magpies won both legs, winning the away leg 1-0 and ensuring they would reach Wembley with a 2-1 home victory.
It was Eddie Howe’s side who recorded a convincing victory when these sides met in the reverse fixture earlier on in the campaign. Southampton were booed off after losing 4-1, with the Magpie’s goals coming from Almiron, Wood, Willock and Buimaraes.
Unsurprisingly, given the respective league positions of these sides, it is Newcastle who are heavily favoured at the bookies ahead of this matchup and are currently priced @ 2/7, whilst an away win for Southampton is priced @ 10/1.
We are backing Joelinton 2+ shots on target as he has been in impressive form in recent weeks. The Brazilian striker has had 2+ shots on target in his past two league games and has managed to get on the scoresheet on both of these occasions.
