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Man charged with invading pitch during Saints game
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A MAN has been charged with invading the pitch at St Mary’s during a Premier League game.
Liam Dummackin, 22, of Glen Eyre Road, Southampton, is due to appear in court on Tuesday.
He allegedly entered the pitch during Saints’ 0-0 draw with Bournemouth on April 1 this year.
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Summary of non-mainstream articles: 14/04/2017 13:46:43
| | Southampton boss makes big prediction about Pep Guardiola at Man CityMANEVNEWS |
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Sourced from Sky Sports article
Southampton v Manchester City preview: Goalkeeping dilemma for Pep Guardiola
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Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is still to decide whether Claudio Bravo or Willy Caballero will play in goal in Saturday’s Premier League clash at Southampton (kick-off 5.30pm).
Guardiola opted to recall Bravo for last weekend’s clash with Hull City at the Etihad, but despite City winning the game 3-1, the experienced Chilean again failed to keep a clean sheet.
And that means Bravo has now conceded from each of the last seven shots on target he’s faced in the Premier League.
The Saints, meanwhile, are pursuing their third consecutive victory at a time when boss Claude Puel continues to divide opinion.
There has been criticism of their inconsistency, but - perhaps partly because of Guardiola’s influence - they are playing an attractive brand of football in which young players such as James Ward-Prowse and Nathan Redmond have excelled.
The Frenchman again has Manolo Gabbiadini and Steven Davis fit for selection, while Martin Caceres is expected to again be on the bench, but Charlie Austin is yet to recover from an injured shoulder.
“(City) like to have the ball, good possession, good play, have good players in attack, but we will have opportunities also,” said Puel.
"The most important thing for us is to keep the good feeling between ourselves; then we can go up against this team.
"The opportunity to play a great manager is very interesting. He has a good philosophy. It’s always technical players, intelligent players.
“The aesthetic of football is very important for him. He’s an example for a lot of trainers, he can win Spanish and German leagues, and in the future England.”
Puel is yet to decide whether the returning Gabbiadini and Davis will start against City, but their presence in his squad leaves Austin and Virgil van Dijk, who has an injured foot, as his only major absentees.
Beyond those two, only Matt Targett and Alex McCarthy are unavailable due to to hamstring injuries.
City striker Gabriel Jesus (foot) and right-back Bacary Sagna (groin) remain on the sidelines, but could be back before the end of the month.
Captain Vincent Kompany is in contention after not being risked against Hull last weekend, but midfielder Ilkay Gundogan (knee) is a long-term absentee.
Southampton have picked up just one win from their last seven games against City in the Premier League (D2 L4), although that did come in this fixture last season (4-2).
City last failed to score in a game against Southampton back in October 2004, having netted in all 11 meetings in all competitions since.
Saints are unbeaten in their last two Premier League meetings with City (W1 D1), while they have only twice previously gone three without defeat against them in the competition (January 1996 and May 2003).
Against teams he has faced at least twice in the Premier League, only against Everton (312) does Sergio Aguero have a worse mins/goal ratio than he does against Southampton (264).
Aguero has scored in 11 successive Premier League appearances in the month of April (14 goals). He’s scored in all three Premier League games in April 2017 so far and is currently on a run of scoring in four successive league appearances overall.
Should City win this match, they’ll equal their total number of Premier League wins in 2015/16 under Manuel Pellegrini (19).
Southampton had a great win at West Brom, many teams have gone to The Hawthorns and found it hard.
But City cannot afford to drop points with United on their coattails, every game is a cup final.
Considering his age and playing in a new league, I’ve been majorly impressed by Leroy Sane. He’s a top player and puts in a shift going the other way too.
Sane, Aguero and Raheem Sterling will get the ball out wide and help stop Ryan Bertrand and Cedric Soares from bombing forward.
City are Sky Bet’s 3/4 favourites for the victory with Southampton up against odds of 100/30, while the draw priced at 14/5. Aguero heads the first goalscorer betting at 100/30 and is 5/6 to score in a fourth successive game, while Gabbiadini’s importance is reflected by his place at the head of the hosts’ side of the market at 13/2 to net first.
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Sourced from BBC article
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Southampton manager Claude Puel will make a late decision on whether to start striker Manolo Gabbiadini, who is fit after a groin injury.
Steven Davis is available after recovering from an ankle problem but Oriol Romeu is suspended.
Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany could return to the starting line-up, having not been risked against Hull.
Manager Pep Guardiola must decide whether Claudio Bravo or Willy Caballero will play in goal.
Steve Wilson: "A trip to Southampton is not the easy warm-up Manchester City might have preferred before their next two crucial matches - the FA Cup semi-final against Arsenal and the Manchester derby.
"City have won only one of their last five visits to St Mary’s and were held at the Etihad by Claude Puel’s side back in November. Any similar slip-up this time would encourage their rivals for a place in the top four.
"Southampton will almost certainly fall short of emulating last season’s sixth-place finish but Puel’s first season in charge has been one of promise, irritatingly undermined by a succession of injuries to key players.
“That they won at West Brom last weekend without Manolo Gabbiadini, Charlie Austin, Virgil van Dijk, Steven Davis, Sofiane Boufal and Oriol Romeu bodes well.”
Southampton manager Claude Puel: "(City) like to have the ball, good possession, good play, have good players in attack, but we will have opportunities also.
"The most important thing for us is to keep the good feeling between ourselves; then we can go up against this team.
“The opportunity to play a great manager is very interesting. He has a good philosophy.”
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola on whether Claudio Bravo or Willy Caballero will play in goal: "Every weekend I will decide who is in goal. Last week I decided on Claudio and Saturday I will decide (again).
"It depends on the opponent, the pressing, what I see in the training sessions, so we are going to see.
“I like both to be involved, I have confidence in both of them, so we will see.”
Southampton picked up a decent point when they went to the Etihad Stadium in October. They deserved it too.
I am going for a City clean sheet again this time, though, and another victory.
SAM (Sports Analytics Machine) is a super-computer created by @ProfIanMcHale at the University of Salford that is used to predict the outcome of football matches.
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Sourced from Daily Mail article
Pep Guardiola expects Man City to be tested by Southampton
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Pep Guardiola has warned his Manchester City side to expect a stern examination of their Champions League credentials at Southampton this weekend.
City ended a run of four games without a win by claiming three important points in the battle for the top-four positions with a routine victory over Hull last weekend.
But Guardiola’s side still have some work to do to secure a place in Europe’s top club competition next season, and the City boss is wary of the threat of Saints.
The south coast club reached the EFL Cup final this season and are on course for a top-half finish. Claude Puel’s side also took a point off City with a 1-1 draw at the Etihad Stadium in a game remembered for a costly error by John Stones in October.
Guardiola said: 'I think Southampton are making an exceptional season.
'They have, of course, a good manager and exceptional players in all positions. They have very good midfielders, all the strikers are so fast, they play the wingers inside - and all of them have good quality. The full-backs are guys who go up and down.
'They are a really, really good team. I was really impressed when they came here at the beginning of the season.
'Of course in that moment we came back from Barcelona, had played a lot of games in that period and we were tired.
‘But of course they are a good team. It’s a really good test for us.’
City go into the game fourth in the table, four points clear of fifth-placed Manchester United. Their neighbours, however, have a game in hand and the two sides are still to play each other.
Guardiola has said he will decide on the day whether to play Claudio Bravo or Willy Caballero in goal.
Bravo returned for the Hull game after eight Premier League games on the bench but was criticised for allowing the Tigers to score a late consolation from the only shot they had on target.
That continued a dismal sequence for the Chilean, who was dropped after conceding six goals from six shots faced in back-to-back games against Everton and Tottenham in January.
Captain Vincent Kompany is in contention after being left out against Hull as a precaution following his long-awaited return to the side in the previous game at Chelsea.
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Sourced from ESPN FC article
Manchester City wary of Southampton threat as Pep targets top four finish
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Despite a draw and a defeat in their last two away matches, Manchester City are still the second-best in the Premier League when it comes to their form on the road this season. A haul of 31 leaves Pep Guardiola’s team behind only Chelsea, the side almost certain to be champions, for the most number of points picked up on their travels in 2016-17.
That should leave the travelling fans quietly optimistic about Saturday’s trip to Southampton. Having endured four negative results on the bounce – as City drew 0-0 with Stoke, 1-1 with Liverpool, 2-2 with Arsenal and then lost 2-1 at Chelsea – the club got back to winning ways in quite comfortable fashion with a 3-1 success over Hull. Given that spell, the supporters should be feeling content that Guardiola’s team still have their top four aspirations in their own hands, as results elsewhere have also been largely in their favour.
Of course, the club should be fighting for the Premier League title and that’s rightly a source of disappointment, but it’s difficult not to look at a club that’s sitting four points clear in fourth and has underperformed against rivals this season as one where the situation could have been a lot worse.
City embark on a run of games where they can have realistic eyes on winning them all between now and the end of the season. It won’t resurrect the title challenge, but the manager would be rightly criticised for failing to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
The next stumbling block has been a source of pain for the fans in the past, too. Southampton ran riot at St Mary’s in 2015-16, coming away with a 4-2 victory against a largely apathetic City team – though, to be fair to Manuel Pellegrini, he was putting all of his eggs in the European basket. The club’s second leg of their 1-0 aggregate loss to Real Madrid was just three days later and, at that point, the Spanish side weren’t leading the tie.
The Chilean earned City’s only win on the road at Southampton since the Saints returned to the top flight in 2012, however. It was far from easy, as a red card for Eliaquim Mangala heaped the pressure on the visitors in 2014-15, but late goals from Frank Lampard and Gael Clichy rounded off a 3-0 success.
That afternoon was notable for a delightful no-look pass from Martin Demichelis that set up the left-back’s goal. That the Frenchman is still the club’s main full-back on that side, with Aleksandar Kolarov now considered a central defender, underlines just how much they’ve stood still in certain areas of the team.
Roberto Mancini’s only visit to St Mary’s wasn’t a happy one, either. The Italian was under pressure in what would turn out to be his final season in charge at the Etihad, having failed to properly defend the Premier League title he’d won the campaign before and having had a number of fall-outs with several of his players.
City’s fate that season as runners-up to Manchester United was pretty much sealed when Gareth Barry put through his own goal just after half time in that 3-1 defeat. Mancini’s side had been woeful – Joe Hart was beginning his slump in form, as he dropped a simple shot into the path of Steven Davies for the second goal, while the first came from Barry having squandered possession cheaply.
Edin Dzeko had offered a brief moment of hope just before the break, but Barry sealed the win for the home side with a smart finish at the wrong end. It was a tough defeat to take; it left City nine points off the leaders, having played a game more. United opened a 12-point gap up with a 2-0 win over Everton the next day.
It explains why City fans have more painful memories at St Mary’s than good ones – given the only highlight beyond Pellegrini’s was the time Paulo Wanchope celebrated scoring a late goal to seal a 2-0 success there by screaming into a pitchside microphone in 2003.
Even then, though, that victory was City’s last in 15 games as Kevin Keegan nearly took the club down into Division One having just moved home from Maine Road to the City of Manchester Stadium.
As Guardiola prepares for the club’s latest trip to the south coast, he should be under no illusions that the game will be a comfortable one. The Saints have played their way into some decent form, with just one loss in their last six top flight matches, while City have had a period of looking fragile again after appearing to have solved some of their problems.
The visitors should be looking at Saturday’s tie as one that could be the second in a winning run, after the victory over Hull. But inconsistency is the story of their season and the club’s history at St Mary’s won’t make easy reading for the manager.
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Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola aware of Southampton threat
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Pep Guardiola was full of praise for Southampton ahead of Manchester City’s trip to the south coast this weekend.
City face Claude Puel’s side at St Mary’s on Saturday, looking to move three points closer to securing Champions League football next season.
Back in October, Southampton grabbed a 1-1 draw at the Etihad Stadium, so Guardiola is well aware of the quality of City’s next opponents.
He said: "I think Southampton are making an exceptional season.
"They have, of course, a good manager (Claude Puel) and exceptional players in all positions.
"They have very good midfielders, all the strikers are so fast, they play the wingers inside and all of them have good quality.
"The full-backs are guys who go up and down. They are a really, really good team. I was really impressed when they came here at the beginning of the season.
"Of course in that moment we came back from Barcelona, had played a lot of games in that period and we were tired.
“But of course they are a good team. It’s a really good test for us.”
New NOW TV customers: Grab a Sky Sports Month Pass and watch the race for silverware hot up, kicking off this Easter Sunday with Man United v Chelsea. All for just £25.
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Sourced from Mirror.co.uk article
Pep Guardiola sends warning to his Manchester City players
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Pep Guardiola has warned his Manchester City side to expect a stern examination of their Champions League credentials at Southampton this weekend.
City ended a run of four games without a win by claiming three important points in the battle for the top-four positions with a routine victory over Hull last weekend.
But Guardiola’s side still have some work to do to secure a place in Europe’s top club competition next season, and the City boss is wary of the threat of Saints.
The south coast club reached the EFL Cup final this season and are on course for a top-half finish. Claude Puel’s side also took a point off City with a 1-1 draw at the Etihad Stadium in a game remembered for a costly error by John Stones in October.
Guardiola said: "I think Southampton are making an exceptional season.
"They have, of course, a good manager and exceptional players in all positions. They have very good midfielders, all the strikers are so fast, they play the wingers inside - and all of them have good quality. The full-backs are guys who go up and down.
"They are a really, really good team. I was really impressed when they came here at the beginning of the season.
"Of course in that moment we came back from Barcelona, had played a lot of games in that period and we were tired.
“But of course they are a good team. It’s a really good test for us.”
City go into the game fourth in the table, four points clear of fifth-placed Manchester United. Their neighbours, however, have a game in hand and the two sides are still to play each other.
Guardiola has said he will decide on the day whether to play Claudio Bravo or Willy Caballero in goal.
Bravo returned for the Hull game after eight Premier League games on the bench but was criticised for allowing the Tigers to score a late consolation from the only shot they had on target.
That continued a dismal sequence for the Chilean, who was dropped after conceding six goals from six shots faced in back-to-back games against Everton and Tottenham in January.
Captain Vincent Kompany is in contention after being left out against Hull as a precaution following his long-awaited return to the side in the previous game at Chelsea.
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Sourced from Daily Mail article
Southampton v Man City: Team news, kick-off time, odds and stats
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Ahead of this weekend’s Premier League action, Sportsmail will be providing you with all you need to know about every fixture, with team news, provisional squads, betting odds and Opta stats. Here is all the information you need for Southampton’s home clash with Manchester City.
The returns of Manolo Gabbiadini and Steven Davis mean Southampton have a near fully-fit squad for Saturday’s Premier League visit of Manchester City.
Manager Claude Puel is yet to decide whether either will start, but their presence in his squad leaves Charlie Austin - close to returning from an injured shoulder - and Virgil van Dijk, who has an injured foot, as his only major absentees.
Beyond those two, only Matt Targett and Alex McCarthy are unavailable due to to hamstring injuries.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is still to decide whether Claudio Bravo or Willy Caballero will play in goal in Saturday’s Premier League clash at Southampton.
Striker Gabriel Jesus (foot) and right-back Bacary Sagna (groin) remain on the sidelines but could be back before the end of the month.
Captain and defender Vincent Kompany is in contention after not being risked against Hull last weekend, but midfielder Ilkay Gundogan (knee) is a long-term absentee.
Southampton have picked up just one win from their last seven games against the Blues in the Premier League (D2 L4), although that did come in this fixture last season (4-2).
City last failed to score in a game against Southampton back in October 2004, having netted in all 11 meetings in all competitions since.
Saints are unbeaten in their last two Premier League meetings with City (W1 D1), while they have only twice previously gone three without defeat against them in the competition (January 1996 and May 2003).
Against teams he has faced at least twice in the Premier League, only against Everton (312) does Sergio Aguero have a worse mins/goal ratio than he does against Southampton (264).
Aguero has scored in 11 successive Premier League appearances in the month of April (14 goals). He’s scored in all three Premier League games in April 2017 so far and is currently on a run of scoring in four successive league appearances overall.
Should Manchester City win this match, they’ll equal their total number of Premier League wins in 2015-16 under Manuel Pellegrini (19).
Dusan Tadic has had a hand in five goals in his last six Premier League appearances (one goal, four assists).
David Silva has assisted the most goals (63) and created the most goalscoring chances (598) in the Premier League since he arrived at Manchester City in July 2010.
Fraser Forster has kept a clean sheet in 30 of his 78 Premier League appearances (38.5 per cent). Since he made his debut in August 2014, of the 18 goalkeepers to have played 50 Premier League games since then, only Petr Cech (41.2 per cent) and Joe Hart (40.8 per cent) have a higher ratio than this.
Following Andrea Ranocchia’s goal for Hull City on matchday 32, Manchester City goalkeeper Claudio Bravo has conceded from each of the last seven shots on target he’s faced in the Premier League. Since December 31st 2016, Bravo has conceded from nine of the 10 shots on target he’s faced.
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Summary of non-mainstream articles: 14/04/2017 15:47:11
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Sourced from The Telegraph article
Is Premier League finishing getting better? Or are goalkeepers getting worse?
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We are well and truly in the age of the superstar striker.
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal-scoring records are simply astonishing. Then there is Luis Suarez, Neymar and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. And don’t forget Sergio Aguero and Alexis Sanchez, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Robert Lewandowski, Gonzalo Higuain and Alexandre Lacazette.
At the younger end of things you have Harry Kane and Romelu Lukaku, Andrea Belotti and Paulo Dybala, Timo Werner and Kylian Mbappe. Goals, goals, goals, goals, goals, goals.
Should we find it surprising then that goals are being scored with increasing efficiency?
Indeed, shot conversion rates around Europe are on the rise; no more stark has the increase been than in the Premier League.
From 11.6 per cent of all shots being scored in 2008/09, there has been a steady increase in Premier League games. In 2016/17, 15.1 per cent of shots are going in.
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Sourced from Southampton FC - Official Site article
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THE MATCH
Southampton vs Manchester City
St Mary’s Stadium
Saturday 15th April, 5.30pm BST
Premier League
THE OFFICIALS
Referee: Neil Swarbrick
Assistants: S Ledger, A Holmes
Fourth official: G Scott
WHAT’S AT STAKE?
For Saints, it’s a chance to win three consecutive Premier League matches for the first time this season.
It is also potentially an opportunity for Claude Puel’s side to close the gap on eighth-placed West Brom, who they beat last week, to just one point.
City have plenty to play for themselves in this contest, as they currently sit fourth in the table, four points ahead of Manchester United, but having played one game more.
A win could also put City above third-placed Liverpool, who are two points ahead of them.
TEAM NEWS
Southampton: There is good news for the hosts, as Claude Puel expects to welcome back striker Manolo Gabbiadini and midfielder Steven Davis into his squad, after the pair returned to injury from training. Oriol Romeu remains suspended for this clash, however.
Manchester City: Defender Bacary Sagna is set to miss out, as he continues to recover from an adductor injury. Centre-back Vincent Company is fully fit again, though, and is in contention to start.
FORM GUIDE
Southampton’s previous five:
West Bromwich Albion (a) W 1-0
Crystal Palace (h) W 3-1
Bournemouth (h) D 0-0
Tottenham (a) L 1-2
Watford (a) W 4-3
Manchester City’s previous five:
Hull City (h) W 3-1
Chelsea (a) L 1-2
Arsenal (a) D 2-2
Liverpool (h) D 1-1
Monaco (a) L 1-3 (Champions League)
TOP PERFORMERS
Dušan Tadić is now two clear at the top of the assist charts at Saints, having laid on Jordy Clasie’s winner at West Brom last weekend. James Ward-Prowse, who is up to four goals for the season, is two assists behind him.
Top scorers: Charlie Austin (9), Nathan Redmond (7)
Most assists: Dušan Tadić (7), James Ward-Prowse (5)
City have an abundance of talent, but their biggest star man remains striker Sergio Agüero, who has 27 goals this season. Raheem Sterling has also been a huge threat, directly contributing to 23 goals.
Top scorers: Sergio Agüero (27), Raheem Sterling (9)
Most assists: Raheem Sterling (14), Kevin De Bruyne (12)
PREVIOUS MEETINGS
All-time record:
Played: 85
Southampton: 31
Draws: 25
Manchester City: 29
Previous four meetings:
October 2016: Manchester City 1-1 Southampton (Redmond)
May 2016: Southampton 4-2 Manchester City (Long, Mané 3)
November 2015: Manchester City 3-1 Southampton (Long)
May 2015: Manchester City 2-0 Southampton
DID YOU KNOW?
– Against teams he has faced at least twice in the Premier League, only against Everton (312) does Sergio Agüero have a worse mins/goal ratio than he does against Southampton (264).
– Duśan Tadić has had a hand in five goals in his last six Premier League appearances (one goal, four assists)
– Manchester City goalkeeper Claudio Bravo has conceded from each of the last seven shots on target he’s faced in the Premier League.
NOT AT THE GAME?
Can’t make it to a sold-out St Mary’s for the match? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.
Follow our interactive match centre on southamptonfc.com, and make sure to follow us on all our social channels for behind-the-scenes access and updates:
– Snapchat
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Sourced from talkSPORT article
Every Premier League team’s most frequent scoreline – revealed!
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No matter what happens in the Premier League, some teams always seem to pop up with the same scoreline.
This season, although Middlesbrough have had a superbly organised and miserly defence, they’ve been unable to put the ball in the back of the net at the other end, leading to a numer of 0-0 draws.
Other teams have a similar habit of racking up the same result and here at talkSPORT we’ve done the maths to find out what every team’s most frequent one is.
Click the right arrow above to find out what your team’s most common scoreline is…
Go to the original article…
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