Our prediction for this Premier League match:
Newcastle United and Southampton face each other at St. James’ Park on Matchday 23. The Magpies are on a three-game losing run at home ground, but they will not have a better chance than this to return to winning ways as Southampton head into the match with a severely-weakened squad. A man to watch in the home team will be former Bournemouth attacker Callum Wilson, who is enjoying a very successful season.
The Saints, on the other hand, experienced all sorts of problems at the back in a 9-0 loss to Southampton, but it has to be noted that both Jankewitz and Bednarek were sent off in the Old Trafford clash. Since several first-team regulars miss Saturday’s clash through injury, we are positive that Newcastle United will bounce back from the midweek defeat to Crystal Palace. The Magpies are eyeing their fourth home win of the season.
Highlighted Player (Achraf Lazaar):
Achraf Lazaar was born in Casablanca, Morocco on January 22, 1992, but he moved to Italy with his parents in 2003. The left-footed footballer began his youth career at Raja Casablanca and he joined Varese’s youth academy in 2009.
Lazaar made his debut for the senior team in 2012. He made 37 league appearances for Varese, but he did not find the net during his spell at the Stadio Franco Ossola outfit. In January 2014 he signed a contract with Palermo and he has been playing for the Sicilian outfit ever since.Lazaar plays as a left back, but he is capable of producing fine displays as a left back as well. Seeing that he was unable to play for Italy, the Palermo footballer decided to represent Morocco on the international stage. He made his Morocco debut on 23 may, 2014 in a friendly against Mozambique. Morocco recorded a routine 4-0 win over Mozambique back then. Achraf Lazaar has a contract with Palermo which expires on 30 June, 2017.
Highlighted Team (Southampton):
Southampton are an English football club that have been playing their home games at St Mary's Stadium since 2001. The Saints were based at The Dell in the past and the capacity of Southampton’s new stadium is 32,505. Southampton wear red and white striped shirts and the colour of the team’s away kit is navy and green.
The Saints have yet to win the Premier League trophy, but they did well to clinch the FA Cup title back in 1976, while participating in the final of the prestigious competition in 1900, 1902 and 2003. Southampton outplayed Manchester United in the 1976 FA Cup final and that is probably the club’s greatest victory ever.
The club are well known for their football academy and Real Madrid superstar Gareth Bale is one of the players who began their football carrier at the St. Mary’s Stadium outfit. Southampton’s fiercest rivals are Portsmouth and the two teams square off against each other in the South Coast Derby.