Newcastle hold a 1-0 advantage over Southampton heading into the second-leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final. George Gamble picks out a bet for the clash.
Football betting tips: Carabao Cup
2pts Under 2.5 Goals at 9/10 (Betfair, bet365)
Newcastle United’s early 1-0 on aggregate.
The Magpies are efficient but it’s their defensive organisation that deserves the plaudits. In ten Premier League home matches this season, they have kept an impressive seven clean sheets and it serves as the foundation of every good thing they have done.
Meanwhile, Southampton have struggled to create chances and the ones that they do, they don’t take. In fact, away from home, only Nottingham Forest have averaged fewer shots on target per match and up against this brick wall of Newcastle, the Saints are unlikely to create a plethora of clear cut chances.
Kick-off time: 20:00 GMT, Tuesday
TV Channel: Sky Sports Football
Newcastle 2/5 | Draw 7/2 | Southampton 7/1
However, with a 1-0 advantage, Eddie Howe’s men don’t need to go chasing the game, they will be content to control the match and hope they can grab a goal and make an already uphill battle even tougher for Southampton.
Goals haven't exactly been free flowing at St. James Park this season, with just 2.3 goals per game being produced on average. But it remains to be seen if the visitors can open this game up by grabbing an early goal. That seems unlikely though considering they are yet to score a single goal inside the opening 15 minutes against Premier League opposition.
With goals looking scarce, the obvious choice is to look towards the unders and UNDER 2.5 GOALS is priced up at 9/10 across most bookies.
This looks very generous given the game state and makes plenty of appeal.
Newcastle v Southampton best bets and score prediction
- 2pts Under 2.5 Goals at 9/10 (Betfair, bet365)
Score prediction: Newcastle 1-0 Southampton (Sky Bet odds: 5/1)
Odds correct at 1340 GMT (30/01/23)
More from Sporting Life
- Fixtures, results and live scores
- Expert xG analysis and features
- Transfer news and done deals
- Football and other sports tips
- our free iOS and Android app
- Podcasts and video content
Safer gambling
We are committed in our of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
Further and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.
