Newcastle United and Southampton picked up positive results at the weekend.
Newcastle United’s holding midfielder Cheick Tiote and Southampton defender Cedric Soares posted more tackles than any other Premier League player this past weekend.
The Magpies continued their recent good run of form by picking up another valuable point in their bid for Premier League survival, coming from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Liverpool.
It was their third successive game without defeat, and much of their newfound solidarity comes as a result of tightening up at the back and becoming more compact out of possession.
Against Liverpool, Newcastle had to withstand heavy pressure throughout and a number of players certainly stood up to the task defensively, with Cheick Tiote in particular having a fine game in-front of the back four.
| Team | Tackles | Mins Played | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheick Tioté | Newcastle | 6 | 83 |
| Cédric Soares | Southampton | 5 | 90 |
| Chancel Mbemba | Newcastle | 5 | 90 |
| Oriol Romeu | Southampton | 4 | 90 |
As shown by the table provided by Opta, the Ivory Coast international midfielder posted more tackles than any other player in the Premier League at the weekend, one more than Southampton’s Soares.
The Saints man was also impressive as his side wrapped up a 4-2 win at already relegation Aston Villa.
Ronald Koeman’s men are vying for a European spot, and despite having not kept a clean sheet in nine games, their expansive way of playing has wielded plenty of positive results of late.
Southampton have begun to score goals in abundance, and for the large part the defenders have backed them up with the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Jose Fonte and Soares standing firm.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
