Southampton vs. Newcastle United – EPL, November 6

This game on Friday night brings together two sides that have started the season brightly and have already surprised a few of the supposedly bigger clubs in the opening weeks.

Southampton looks like the more consistent of the two – but the entire EPL season has been inconsistent this year so far, so this is actually one of the more unpredictable fixtures this weekend.

There is seemingly something about Newcastle that fails to inspire confidence.

The bookmakers have the visiting side as a fairly comprehensive underdog here and it is the inconsistency of Steve Bruce’s side that attracts the longer odds than more stable sides such as Southampton.

When the half time whistle blew on Sunday and Southampton was 3-0 up away at Villa Park, it looked as if it was going to be a great day for the Saints. The final 4-3 scoreline suggests that Ralph Hasenhuttl may have been a little anxious right at the end, but the result was another example of how good this Southampton side look this season.

James Ward-Prowse, on his birthday, was the playmaker once again but it was another team effort that won the points in the end. One piece of worrying news for the Saints is that Danny Ings looks unlikely to play this Friday after limping off against Villa. That will be a major blow – and definitely gives Newcastle more of a chance.

Steve Bruce’s side convincingly beat Everton at the weekend and showed that it is a team that could cause a few more upsets and problems for some of the bigger clubs this year. The addition of Callum Wilson up front has already proved a roaring success – and the England striker scored both goals against Everton.

Everton was missing a few of its more important players, but this still has to go down as a very impressive performance – and result. Not being able to win two games in a row is still an ongoing problem for Newcastle but it does look as though a prolonged relegation battle will be avoided this season.

Even if Danny Ings does end up missing this one, I think that the home side has more attacking options this season than previously – and that should be enough to take all three points. Che Adams, in particular, has started to look like the player Southampton thought it had bought before the start of last season – and he could be the main problem for the Newcastle defenders on Friday.