Away from the drama of transfer deadline day, Newcastle United face their biggest game in years tonight.
The Magpies welcome Southampton to St James’ Park for the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi final.
Eddie Howe’s side have a one-goal lead after the first encounter, and know that avoiding defeat will be enough to book their place at Wembley next month.
Toon fans are dreaming of a cup final, and it is set to be a special atmosphere inside the ground tonight.
Alexander Isak and Allan Saint-Maximin were the difference makers at St Mary’s, with the former’s sensational assist setting up Joelinton for the winner. They both did brilliantly off the bench, leading to calls from fans for them to be included in the starting lineup.
However, it doesn’t look like that will be the case.
Eddie Howe expected to name unchanged starting XI vs Southampton
According to the Northern Echo, Howe is expected to name an unchanged starting XI tonight.
That means that Callum Wilson gets the nod ahead of Isak, while Joelinton continues on the left flank with Saint-Maximin on the bench.
It isn’t a massive surprise to see Howe take this stance. While it would be great to see the 23-year-old striker start, he is still probably better suited to having an impact off the bench.
The same goes for Saint-Maximin. Given that Newcastle are defending a lead, it always felt likely that Joelinton would continue on the left of attack.
Howe’s decision means that Isak and ASM will be on the bench, and are great options for Newcastle to have if things aren’t going our way.
Hopefully they do go our way, and we can start making plans for Wembley on February 26th.
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