Southampton midfielder Victor Wanyama (L) competes for the ball against Leicester City's Jamie Vardy. (Photo : Getty Images)
Seventh-running squad Southampton FC (13-11-8, 47 points) will try to vie for the last Champions League qualification berth as the 2015-2016 Premier League season winds down. The team faces bottom-three club Newcastle United FC (6-18-7, 25 points) on Saturday, April 9th at the St. Mary's Stadium to begin its attempted climb in the standings.
Southampton is only seven points behind fourth-placed squad Manchester City in the current league table. City holds the fourth and final Champions League slot as of the moment with Manchester United and West Ham United, the fifth and sixth-ranked teams, one point and three points away.
With only seven to six matchdays left before the season ends, it will be a four-way battle between City, United, West Ham, and the Saints for that Champions League playoff round spot.
The top three finishers of the season will automatically qualify in the group stage of the said club continental competition and Leicester City, Tottenham Hotspur, and Arsenal are comfortably ahead of the pack.
Southampton is coming off a sorry 0-1 defeat to league leaders and potential champions Leicester City last Sunday at the King Power Stadium, as per BBC Sport.
Team captain Wes Morgan provided the winning goal for the Foxes at the 38th minute to hand manager Ronald Koeman's men their third setback in the last six outings. The loss snapped the Saints two-game winning run.
Meanwhile, Newcastle United continues to be in the bottom three of the league table and would need to string a few wins in their last seven games of this current campaign if they want to stay in the Premier League next season.
The Magpies are on a six-game winless spell as they are only two points behind Sunderland, the top squad in the bottom three relegation zone.
Newcastle dropped a 2-3 decision to newly-promoted side Norwich City at the Carrow Road last Saturday, as reported by SkySports.
The predicted result is a 3-1 bounce back win for Southampton.
Southampton starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Forster; Soares, van Dijk, Fonte, Bertrand; Wanyama, Clasie; Davis, Mane, Targett; Pellè
Newcastle United starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Darlow; Janmaat, Mbemba, Taylor, Anita; Shelvey, Tioté; Townsend, Wijnaldum, Sissoko; Cissé
