5 Southampton Players Who Newcastle Must Be Wary Of

5. Graziano Pelle

Graziano Pelle scored twice within the first 20 minutes against Newcastle last September. Arguably, Newcastle played against him at the wrong time as he has only scored double that amount since the turn of the new year. Overall though the Dutch striker grabbed 12 league goals, a return that marked his first season in the Premier League as perfectly acceptable 0 but the 30-year-old will be hoping to be more consistent this term. Newcastle United have only brought in one defender this summer. Chancel Mbemba was signed for £8 million from Anderlecht but isn't highly regarded as having much of an aerial threat. Mike Williamson and Fabricio Coloccini's form significantly dropped over the course of last season and, with Pelle's natural heading ability, it could be that the Magpies struggle to deal with the 6ft 3in striker. The Italian scored in the first leg of Southampton's Europa League qualifier against Vitesse Arnhem last week and put the Saints ahead after just four minutes last night as the Saints won 5-0 on aggregate.