Chris Sutton has dubbed it the Alan Shearer derby in his prediction with Southampton set to face Newcastle United at St James’ Park tomorrow.
The BBC Sport pundit has made his latest Newcastle prediction and has gone big with suggestion.
Southampton look almost certain to be relegated and a defeat to fellow strugglers Bournemouth on Thursday did little to make anybody think otherwise. That performance certainly didn’t go down well with Chris Sutton who branded the Saints ‘gutless’.
Meanwhile Sutton was very complimentary about Newcastle after they made light work of Everton on Thursday night, and he’s backing Eddie Howe’s men to pick up where they left off on Sunday.
The former Blackburn star and former strike partner of Alan Shearer has backed the Magpies to win very comfortably on Sunday, predicting a 5-0 win for the home side writing on BBC Sport: “This is the ‘Alan Shearer derby’ between two of his old clubs and there is only going to be one winner.
“Southampton were a disgrace on Thursday, bearing mind they were at home and needed to win the game. I thought their performance was gutless and they offered so little in attack.
“The position Saints are in, I was expecting them to play with desperation and throw everything they could at Bournemouth.
“Instead, they looked like a team who had already been relegated. How on earth they got a point against Arsenal last week, I really don’t know.
“Newcastle, meanwhile, are just absolutely flying. They have everything they need to finish the season strongly and secure a top-four finish – I think they will wipe the floor with Southampton for starters.
Chris Sutton’s prediction: 5-0″
It’s a bold claim, for sure, but Newcastle have scored ten goals in their last two games and given Southampton’s current predicament, they are there for the taking.
Eddie Howe will have to make sure there’s no complacency amongst the team so they don’t get bitten like Arsenal did recently when they could only muster a 3-3 draw.
As long as he can get the lads playing to same level they did against Tottenham and in the second half at Everton, there’s potential for this to be a very silly score. We all know how Southampton are prone to the odd nine goal hammering, maybe Newcastle can go one step further and become the first club in Premier League history to hit double figures.
Okay, I’m getting carried away, but I am with Sutton on this one, it’s going to be another high scoring game.
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