Southampton will be without highly-rated winger Tyler Dibling for their game against Newcastle United on Saturday.
Newcastle United must dust themselves off from the defeat against Bournemouth. They’ve got a great chance to do that against a Southampton side who look completely bereft of confidence.
The Saints sit rock bottom of the Premier League and will be without Tyler Dibling, who Newcastle are looking to sign.
Newcastle’s loss against Bournemouth was certainly a wake-up call for Eddie Howe and his players that if they want to play European football next season they need to be at the top of their game for the remaining games.
Other results mean that Newcastle could end the game week as low as sixth in the league. They had the chance to move up to third before Saturday.
Dibling had been a threat to a lot of sides despite only scoring two goals. Newcastle fans praised Dibling for a recent performance against league leaders Liverpool. One fan even claimed the 18-year-old should be “Newcastle’s right winger for the next decade.”
With Dibling set to miss the game, Southampton have confirmed another star will also be unavailable for the Newcastle clash. It’s a controversial one.
Ben Brereton Diaz to miss Newcastle clash
Ben Brereton Diaz is not well-liked on Tyneside after Southampton’s visit to the North East in August.
In Newcastle’s first game of the Premier League season, Diaz was involved in an altercation with Fabian Schar. The 33-year-old pushed his head towards Diaz who proceeded to fall on the floor claiming he had been headbutted.
Schar was controversially sent off and Newcastle fans booed Diaz for the remainder of the game. Newcastle went on to win the game 1-0 thanks to a first-half strike from Joelinton.
Diaz would have been in line to play against Newcastle in the reverse fixture at St Mary’s, but that will not be the case.
On Monday, Southampton confirmed that Diaz had completed a loan move to Championship side Sheffield United.
Before his departure, Diaz made 10 league appearances for the Saints but failed to find the net.
Newcastle players set to miss Southampton clash
Newcastle also have their fair share of absentees for the game on Saturday. Harvey Barnes will miss the trip with a thigh strain.
Callum Wilson is not due back to Newcastle’s first-team squad until February. If everything goes to plan, he will be in contention to feature in the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg against Arsenal at St James’ Park.
Nick Pope missed the game against Bournemouth but is in contention for a return against Southampton. He has been missing since December with a knee ligament problem.
Elsewhere, Emil Krafth still needs to do contact training after sustaining a broken collarbone in November.
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