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Southampton, Newcastle in League Cup semi-final

Published:Tuesday | January 24, 2023 | 12:41 AM
Newcastle’s head coach Eddie Howe (right) hugs Kieran Trippier after the English Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Newcastle at the Selhurst Park Stadium in London last Saturday.
AP
Newcastle’s head coach Eddie Howe (right) hugs Kieran Trippier after the English Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Newcastle at the Selhurst Park Stadium in London last Saturday.

LONDON, England (AP):

Southampton and Newcastle meet today in the first leg of the League Cup semi-finals, with both teams looking to stay on course to end long trophy droughts.

While Southampton’s one and only piece of major silverware is the FA Cup in 1976, Newcastle have to go back even longer for a big domestic trophy. That was the FA Cup in 1955. Not even 18 months into their new Saudi-owned era, Newcastle have rapidly become a force in English football under manager Eddie Howe. The northeast team is third in the Premier League, too.

Southampton surprisingly reached the semi-finals by ousting Manchester City and were on a three-match winning run until losing to Aston Villa in the league on Saturday. The first leg is at Southampton’s St Mary’s stadium, and the return match is next week. Nottingham Forest and Manchester United are the other teams in the semif-inals.

Also on today is a third-round replay in the FA Cup between third-tier Accrington Stanley and fifth-tier Boreham Wood. The winners will play Leeds next.

In Italy, defending champions AC Milan visit Lazio in Serie A, looking to end a four-game winless stretch across all competitions. The Rossoneri’s poor run started when they squandered a two-goal lead in a 2-2 draw with Roma. Then they were eliminated from the Italian Cup by 10-man Torino before drawing 2-2 at Lecce. Perhaps the most painful defeat came last week when Milan were beaten 3-0 by city rivals Inter Milan in the Italian Super Cup. Lazio have won two straight matches between the league and Italian Cup.

In Germany, Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich had to work hard for a point in a 1-1 draw with Leipzig on Friday in their first game of 2023. Hosting Cologne should be an easier task though Cologne are coming off a spectacular 7-1 demolition of Werder Bremen on Saturday. Leipzig coach Marco Rose says he’s hoping to give forward Timo Werner, newly back from an ankle ligament injury, more game time in a visit to last-place Schalke after Werner came off the bench against Bayern. Wolfsburg is riding high after beating Champions League-chasing Freiburg 6-0 on Saturday and now visit relegation-threatened Hertha Berlin. Hoffenheim hosts Stuttgart.