Newcastle bootroom banter

NEWCASTLE United’s Premier League status is becoming more perilous by the week, so Rafael Benitez knows leaving Southampton with three points has become crucial.

IS IT POSSIBLE?

Newcastle have not won away from home since December, that’s a run stretching nine games. Even that victory at Tottenham was only the second and last of the team’s away wins this season, so how can Benitez end that on the south coast?

Managers are paid to look for the positives, so he can at least take hope from the fact the Saints have lost five games at St Mary’s this season, but with Newcastle priced at 5/1 to win it is clear that not many fancy their chances.

Newcastle do not look good enough to stay up. Benitez has tried a few things and there have been a few signs of improvement in certain areas (at times), but that’s about it.

Southampton still have an outside chance of finishing in a Europa League spot, so Ronald Koeman should have no problem in lifting his players for the occasion and that spells bad news for the men from Tyneside.

WHO WILL LEAD THE LINE?

Aleksandar Mitrovic or Papiss Cisse? It was the latter who was preferred when they headed to Norwich City last weekend and they came up short.

The introduction of Mitrovic after the hour sparked Newcastle into life, but that was only because they actually started to put some crosses into the box – something a big striker has always thrived on in the past.

Cisse played the full 90 minutes at Carrow Road and, on song, would certainly be a more prolific option than his Serbian counterpart. But Mitrovic should never have been made the scapegoat for Newcastle’s problems, they run far deeper than that and he has started scoring too.

BIG PERFORMANCES

Supporters have waited all season for a lift and a display from Newcastle’s bigger names, but they have rarely arrived and that has frustrated those buying tickets to watch them.

If there was a time to actually win back some of those disgruntled fans it is now, with seven matches remaining. Even Georginio Wijnaldum, the top scorer, has stopped looking like he is worthy of playing for Holland, while the likes of Moussa Sissoko and Ayoze Perez do not look like the players their reputations carry.

Goalkeeper Karl Darlow, only in the side because of injuries to Tim Krul and Rob Elliot, will do his very best to impress in the hope of proving he is Premier League quality. Benitez needs more, much more, than a performance from a young third-choice keeper.

Newcastle are already six points shy of safety with mid-April approaching, Benitez can’t afford any more below par showings from the club’s international names or his hopes of staying in the job for a further season could disappear before the last game on May 15 has even started.