Three big Southampton questions ahead of daunting Newcastle trip

Defeat on Thursday to Bournemouth places Saints six points adrift of safety with five games left to play. It’s not yet mathematically finished and it’s not yet completely over, but it’s getting closer and closer to the eventuality of relegation.

No wins in their last seven is a concern. No clean sheets in the same time span is also a concern. But ultimately, it’s the giant hole they’ve dug themselves over the course of the entire season - under three different managers - that is going to prove decisive.

READ MORE: When Saints are relegated, the lasting regret will be to go down with so much regret

Faced with one of their final chances to ignite a great escape when the Cherries came to St Mary’s, Ruben Selles’s side put in another meek display as Marcus Tavernier’s second half strike gave the visitors all three points.

Things now don’t get any easier for Saints as they travel north to Newcastle. Eddie Howe’s in-form Magpies have scored ten goals in their last two and will be determined to keep their foot on the gas with a Champions League place up for grabs.

Ruben Selles and Che Adams react to Saints' defeat to Bournemouth. (Image: Richard Crease)

It’s daunting on paper and it’s daunting in real life. Here are three big questions we’ve picked out ahead of Sunday’s meeting with Newcastle…

1. Will Selles go for broke?

The harsh truth is that Saints have absolutely nothing to lose. Their season has long cratered and relegation now seems far closer to a certainty than a possibility. Considering the mini-miracle it would take for Saints to stay up, it seems that the time for any sort of conservative approach should long be finished. 

But Selles seems unwilling or unable to coax a front-footed attacking performance out of this team. In his 11 Premier League games in charge, Saints have scored just nine goals, three of those coming against Spurs and three more of those coming at Arsenal. In the other nine games, they’ve found the net just three times.

In the simplest terms, if you don’t score, then you can’t win. And Saints have been finding it unbelievably tough to score. Part of that might be due to the personnel chosen with no recognised striker starting any of Saints’ last four league matches.

Additionally, both Adam Armstrong and Moi Elyounoussi started once again on Thursday night. Both players have their strengths but they are near guarantees not to offer much in the way of scoring - or assisting for that matter.

Armstrong has notched just one league goal this term and three in total since he arrived at St Mary’s while Elyounoussi is yet to get off the mark this season while providing one assist.

Saints January signings Paul Onuachu and Kamaldeen Sulemana pictured. (Image: Stuart Martin)

This isn’t a criticism of that duo, we know what they are by now. Both players work hard, chase tirelessly, and will try to stretch the game with driving runs forward - in the case of Elyounoussi - or runs in behind - in the case of Armstrong. But we also know what the two are not. And that is players capable of opening up opposition defences and scoring or creating goals. 

Saints need goals. So maybe it’s time to start picking players who could potentially provide them. Kamaldeen Sulemana is yet to get off the mark in a Saints shirt but at least looks likely to offer some sort of danger while Paul Onuachu has barely even been given the chance to get off the mark.

Then there’s a whole host of other attacking options who have largely been cast aside including Mislav Orsic, Samuel Edozie, Joe Aribo, Moussa Djenepo, and Stuart Armstrong. Che Adams is likely to start after returning from the calf injury he suffered while on international duty but Saints fans will be hoping for an ambitious team selection around the striker. Let’s see if they get it.

2. Can Saints handle the St James’ Park atmosphere?

When Saints visited the Magpies in January for the second leg of their League Cup semi-final, they completely failed to handle the occasion and the atmosphere around the occasion. From the opening whistle they looked shell-shocked and out of their depth as Newcastle raced into an early 2-0 lead to ostensibly kill off the tie.

Sloppy to the extreme, Saints made life easier for their hosts on that night as they repeatedly gave the ball back to them while appearing a frantic and panicked bunch. 

They have to make things much more difficult for Newcastle this time around. Howe’s side have been in scintillating form in recent weeks and their destruction of Spurs last time out is a clear sign of what they’re capable of.

Saints will have to stand strong, defend their box well, and do everything they can to take the sting out of the game and silence the vocal St James’ Park support.

Sean Longstaff celebrates scoring against Saints in January. (Image: Stuart Martin)

Newcastle will be approaching the game with confidence and urgency as they chase a European place but that necessity for victory could breed elements of panic should Saints really make them work for it.

But if they offer the weak resistance early on as they did on that January night, then it could be a very long afternoon for Selles and his team. One positive is that Romeo Lavia should start his time after being inexplicably benched for the cup semi-final.

However, the status of Lavia’s midfield partner James Ward-Prowse is still up in the air after the Saints captain missed his first Premier League minutes of the season when he was withdrawn at half time in his side’s 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth. Saints can’t really afford to be any weaker than usual, the reality is that they need to be better than usual. And they need Ward-Prowse for that.

3. Will Saints continue their bizarre season-long trends?

When Saints are mathematically relegated - as seems a near certainty at this point, they will go down as one of the stranger sides to do so.

Clearly a team with talent, they have proven that at times with impressive performances against some of the best teams in the league. Meanwhile, they’ve hardly ever been blown out while losing by one goal on 12 different occasions. 

They are a team who fail to stand up in the biggest moment against those sides around them in the division but when the pressure is off their shoulders and when the expectation is on their opposition, they seem to flourish.

Twice they beat Chelsea while also earning two draws against Arsenal, a draw with Manchester United, and a draw with Spurs. In these kinds of relegation battles, it’s all the other games, the six-pointers against potential drop-zone rivals that matter more and that is part of why Saints seem destined for the Championship.

But it’s a track record that should at least allow for some optimism ahead of tomorrow’s trip to St James’ Park. Yes, Saints were beaten 4-1 by Newcastle at home in Ralph Hasenhuttl’s final game. And yes, they also did lose both legs of that League Cup semi-final.

Newcastle cruised past Saints at St Mary's in November. (Image: Stuart Martin)

But for all the bad that will inevitably be said about this Saints group, they don’t seem afraid of the biggest teams and the best players.

Speaking to Sky Sports ahead of the trip to Arsenal, Saints central defender Armel Bella-Kotchap said: "We see that even at the bottom of the league, you can play a team at the top, for example, Manchester United… we drew (with) them.

”These kinds of match-ups can help us turn our confidence and get our confidence back.

"When we see the results in the past, we can do this. We always believe, even against teams at the top of the league, that we can get a result."

Clearly believers when it comes to defying the odds, Saints will believe they can do something rather remarkable on Sunday. It still likely won’t be enough to give them a serious chance in the relegation battle but let’s take things one step at a time.