Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson has delivered his prediction for Newcastle United’s clash with Southampton on Saturday.
Both teams appear to have secured their Premier League safety for another season, but they will be keen to make it official as soon as possible. With that said, Merson feels they will cancel each other out in a 2-2 draw.
The pundit suggested that both sides go out and express themselves but then pointed out there was plenty still to play for in terms of money and that could stop them doing that.
“Both teams are safe, and there should be goals,” he wrote on the Sky Sports website. “Nobody is under pressure, they are both safe. Why not go out and express yourselves?
“The problem is there is still plenty to play for in terms of money for the club – moving up three positions can bring in millions of pounds. Winning this game can really help for that push. The players though, will not feel that pressure.”
OPINION
Merson is right, there really should be no pressure on the players here. Premier League safety is all but assured for them both, meaning that they can go out there and enjoy themselves on Saturday. That’s not to say they won’t be taking this one seriously and, in fact, it could lead to a more enjoyable game for the supporters. Both teams have been playing pretty well since the turn of the year. Southampton are much improved under Ralph Hasenhuttl, while Rafael Benitez has yet again wrung every ounce of effort and determination out of his Newcastle players. This should be a very entertaining game for the neutral, but the Magpies need to take the Saints seriously. They have looked decent going forward lately and have players in form like James Ward-Prowse and Nathan Redmond. Newcastle have their own talents, of course, like Salomon Rondon and Ayoze Perez. All of this points to the two teams cancelling themselves out in a score draw, as Merson predicts.
