'Right in the mix': Chris Sutton has changed his tune as he predicts who will win on Saturday - Southampton or Newcastle United

 · January 24 2025, 10:30
'Right in the mix': Chris Sutton has changed his tune as he predicts who will win on Saturday - Southampton or Newcastle United
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It wasn't too long ago that Chris Sutton had Newcastle United fans convinced we were in a title race, now one poor result later, the former Blackburn Rovers striker has quickly changed his tune.

In fairness, part of the belief that Newcastle were closing in on Liverpool will have been under the impression that Newcastle would comfortably beat Bournemouth but after suffering a 4-1 defeat at the hands of the Cherries, it's only natural to question Newcastle's credentials to mount a title challenge.

That being said, a win against a side we'd be expected to drop points against would put us right back in there, especially if that side turns out to be Liverpool.

Anyway, that's by the by, this is about Saturday's game against Southampton. Newcastle take on the Saints on the south coast in a traditional 3pm non-televised kick-off and the Magpies will be hoping to get back to winning ways.

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Anthony Gordon in action against Southampton on the opening day of the season

Chris Sutton has backed Newcastle to bag a victory on Saturday

Southampton have won just one game all season so a defeat for Newcastle on Saturday is practically unthinkable, but it would be the most Newcastle United thing of all time. However, Chris Sutton isn't expecting the Magpies to have any such issues as he's predicted the score for his BBC column.

"All the talk before Newcastle played Bournemouth was whether Eddie Howe's side could push Liverpool in the title race, but that talk has stopped since they lost 4-1.

"They are still right in the mix for a top-four finish, but it is important for them to quickly get back to winning ways - and this seems like a good game for them to do that.

"Southampton have made a decent fist of it in their past two games, against Manchester United and Nottingham Forest, but they still ended up losing both of them.

"Let's face it, they are as good as down. Their situation is so bad that, when we spoke about the relegation battle on this week's Monday Night Club, we didn't even mention them - the assumption is that they are already gone.

"Their main aim now is to avoid going down with the lowest points tally in Premier League history.

"They have got 16 games left to pick up the six points that would see them beat Derby County's tally of 11 points from 2007-08.

"It is a big incentive because Robbie Savage, who was Derby's captain that season, has had to live with that record for years.

"I'd really like him to keep hold of it, so let's all pray for Southampton to reach the 12-point mark. I don't see them picking anything up here though.

"Sutton's prediction: 0-2"
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A win is all we ask for ... that's not greedy, right?

I can't even begin to imagine the scale of the meltdown if Newcastle were to lose on Saturday, and I'm just talking about my own personal meltdown, never mind the social media one.

Sutton is being a lot more cautious than Paul Merson was with his prediction and after being bitten last week, we get it.

Honestly, as long as we win, I don't care what the score is so much. Although, yes, a big win would be nice to correct last week's whoopsie.

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