Newcastle United travel to Southampton this weekend with their Premier League future hanging by a thread following last weekend’s gut-wrenching defeat at Carrow Road.
Rafael Benitez has accrued a reputation for rotating squads during his illustrious managerial career, and his propensity for change was evident again at Norwich last Saturday when he shocked the Toon Army by controversially dropping Aleksandar Mitrovic and Jamaal Lascelles for the more experienced duo of Papiss Cisse and Steven Taylor.
Unfortunately, the Spanish tinker man’s gamble did not pay off, and fans will hope that the former Liverpool boss makes wholesale changes once again this weekend to ensure that the side are better equipped at both ends of the field.
Ronald Koeman’s Saints made up for a poor start to the 2014/15 campaign over the Christmas period and their upturn in form sees them head into their final six games of the season with an outside chance of European qualification.
The Magpies have endured a torrid time on their last two trips to St.Mary’s, with Southampton running out as comprehensive 4-0 winners on both occasions.
That will have to change this Saturday if Rafael Benitez’s men are to mount a serious late season surge towards survival, and anything other than three points could see Newcastle lose further ground on relegation rivals Norwich and Sunderland who face off against Crystal Palace and Leicester City respectively.
Ahead of the do or die encounter, we decided to draw up our preferred Newcastle XI for the game.
The formation is 4-3-3.