Tickets for Southampton’s Premier League home game against Newcastle United have sold out.
A capacity crowd will watch the fixture at St Mary’s, as the Magpies visit for a 4pm BST kick-off on Sunday.
It means that the run of full houses continues, with Southampton’s first five home Premier League games of the season having all been sold out.
Season Ticket holders who can’t make the game still have time to list their seats on the Ticket Exchange for another supporter who can. Simply click here to do so.
Fans who are still looking for a seat can check availability on the Ticket Exchange by heading to tickets.saintsfc.co.uk.
For information on availability of wheelchair tickets for the game, contact the Ticket Office on 02381 780780.
To view remaining availability on Club Southampton’s hospitality packages for the game, click here.
Rafa Benitez is relishing a battle with old friend Mauricio Pellegrino on Sunday as Newcastle travel to Southampton.
As well as managing the Argentinian manager and former defender at Valencia, the Newcastle boss Benitez appointed him as his assistant at both Liverpool and Inter Milan.
At St Mary’s on Sunday though, the Spaniard will be in the away dug-out as his former adviser sends his Southampton team out hoping to move above the Magpies in the Premier League.
‘He is someone who has always been focused and worked hard. He likes football and likes to study and learn,’ Benitez said.
'He knows everything about me because he was my player and assistant. He has an advantage, but at the same time we know him really well too. It is a special situation.
'If you wanted to say something or change something, he would know already. Players don’t analyse the game, but when you are a coach, you know tactics and how people prepare for a game.
‘He will have an advantage, but we will have that advantage too.’
The Saints have won only once at St Mary’s so far this season, and Newcastle will arrive hoping to build upon a run of only one defeat in their last five games, culminating in a creditable home draw with Liverpool before the international break.
They will do so with several members of their squad having returned from World Cup qualifying duty on a high - striker Aleksandar Mitrovic helped Serbia to reach next summer’s finals while Rob Elliot and Ciaran Clark were in the Republic of Ireland squad which booked a play-off spot with victory in Wales.
‘We have some of them that were quite happy, the Irish in particular - that is good. When you have so many around, some will be fine and some have to prepare for the next challenge,’ Benitez added.
‘The main thing is they are focused on the weekend.’
Jonjo Shelvey will be available despite breaking a finger trying to separate team-mates Jamaal Lascelles and Mohamed Diame during a training ground bust-up.
The midfielder is expected to play wearing a special cast to protect the injury.
Southampton manager Mauricio Pellegrino has called on his squad to kick-start their misfiring campaign ahead of Newcastle’s visit to the St Mary’s Stadium on Sunday.
The Saints headed into the international break following successive defeats, at home to Manchester United, and then on the road at Stoke.
While Pellegrino’s side have shipped only seven goals from as many fixtures this term, they have failed to find the back of the net on four occasions.
But with three of their next four league matches at home - starting with the visit of the newly-promoted Magpies - Pellegrino believes it is time for his goal-shy team to deliver.
‘The game on Sunday is really important for us,’ Pellegrino said. 'It is true that every single game is important, but of our next four games, we have three at home and we have to push ourselves to get the points we deserve in other games.
'I would like to win as many games as we can, but the position right now does not mean anything. We have to keep going because we are dominating and controlling the games.
'If we drew our last match against Stoke we would not be talking about changing a lot of things. Sometimes you think you have to change things after you have not got the result. But we have to analyse what we are doing right, what we are doing wrong, and we have to keep going with this mentality.
‘We have to improve not just in attack, but also in defence and in a lot of areas we can be better. Hopefully it will be a good possibility this Sunday to show that we are better than the last game.’
Standing in the adjacent dugout to Pellegrino at St Mary’s on Sunday will be his close friend and mentor Rafael Benitez.
Pellegrino played under Benitez at Valencia and then Liverpool, before joining the Spaniard’s coaching team at Anfield and then following him to Inter Milan.
‘Rafa doesn’t drink too much, so I will invite him to have a Coke after the game,’ Pellegrino joked.
'I try to learn from everybody. When you consider I am really young in this profession, I am only starting, and I want to learn every single day to try to be better.
‘Rafa doesn’t need too much advice from me because he is a manager with a lot of experience in the Premier League. He has worked for 20 years, more or less, at different situations. It will be really nice to be with him again and to play against him.’
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In the build-up to next Saturday’s home fixture against West Bromwich Albion, we’ll be sharing a different story each day on our website and social media channels that highlights work across the club and local community under our One March banner.
In the video above, Toby Steele – Southampton’s Managing Director – explains more about why One March week exists and what he hopes it will achieve.
Saints held their own in an even first half, only to fall behind three minutes before the interval when Tyreece John-Jules found the bottom corner with a low drive from 15 yards.
No sooner had the visitors received their half-time words of encouragement than they found themselves 2-0 down, as Zak Swanson slid in at the far post to double Arsenal’s lead.
Saints responded with their best spell of the game. Harlem Hale lobbed just wide from an acute angle, before his well-struck shot was parried away by goalkeeper Joao Virginia.
But Virginia was beaten midway through the second half by Michael Obafemi’s penalty, as the striker sent the keeper the wrong way following a soft decision.
But as Saints pressed for an equaliser, they were undone by a well-worked free kick routine, culminating in captain Danny Ballard heading home the killer third.
Arsenal smelt blood and duly finished off the visitors in clinical fashion, as John-Jules scored his second from the penalty spot, before Bukayo Saka added the gloss with a late fifth.
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