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| Claude Puel in line to be sacked by Southampton after bust-ups with players | Southampton are ready to dismiss manager Claude Puel at the end of the season, according to a report tonight from … 18-05-2017 |

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| Five Things Learned: Manchester United (H)20 hours ago |
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| Napoli to make £8m bid for Portuguese winger, with Southampton and Leicester keen20 hours ago |
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Premier Predictor: Arsenal have 13 per cent chance of top-four finish

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Manchester City and Liverpool will beat Arsenal to the final Champions League qualifying spots, says the Sky Sports Premier Predictor.

The Gunners need either third-placed City or fourth-placed Liverpool to slip up on the final day of the Premier League season to continue their run of always qualifying for the Champions League under Arsene Wenger’s management.

However, that looks like an unlikely prospect and the Sky Sports Premier Predictor - which uses an algorithm to rank results, previous performances and the difficulty of upcoming fixtures - reckons Arsenal have just a 13 per cent chance of finishing in the top four.

Read on to see how the Sky Sports Premier Predictor expects the Premier League table to finish.

The Sky Sports Premier Predictor also predicts match results - and is tipping all of the top six to enjoy final day victories, as well as Burnley, Leicester, Southampton and Swansea.

You can see the full list of predictions at the bottom of the page - and then download the latest Sky Sports Stat Attack podcast for stats, facts and Premier League discussion here.

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Lawro’s final-day Premier League predictions v rock band Royal Blood

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BBC Sport’s football expert Mark Lawrenson has made a prediction for all 380 Premier League games this season.

The final table based on all of his predictions is at the bottom of this page.

In Lawro’s league table, Chelsea and Liverpool finished joint champions and, overall, he has seven teams out of 20 in their correct positions going into the final round of fixtures.

Lawro has been pitting his wits against a different guest each week this season and his opponent for the final round of fixtures is drummer Ben Thatcher from rock band Royal Blood.

Thatcher is a Brighton fan who is looking forward to seeing his side in the top flight next season after their promotion from the Championship.

“If you look at where the club was 20 years ago, getting to the Premier League is an amazing achievement,” he told BBC Sport. "It is going to be a great season.

“It will be all about staying up and, with the right signings, it can happen. We might even do a Leicester and win the title - who knows?”

The Seagulls held their promotion parade last week after returning to the top flight for the first time since 1983.

“It was a day that the club will always remember,” Thatcher said.

"I won’t remember it as well as most people because I got off a plane and went straight down to the seafront and partied hard.

“But it was great to see how excited the whole city was that we had been promoted - it has pulled everyone together and we are all supporting our club.”

A correct result (picking a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. The exact score earns 40 points.

You can make your Premier League predictions now and compare them with those of Lawro and other fans by playing the BBC Sport Predictor game.

It appears Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is going to stay on for another year or two and, if that is the case, I am not sure why they have kept it such a big secret.

So, it does not look like this will be Wenger’s final game at the Emirates Stadium, but it could be Alexis Sanchez’s - the future of the Gunners striker is still in doubt.

Arsenal have got next week’s FA Cup final to think about but I don’t think that will affect the result, because they can still finish in the top four and they have to go for the win in case Manchester City or Liverpool slip up.

Everton will finish seventh whatever happens and they will make a game of it, but the Gunners are on a good run and I think they will come out on top.

However, even if Arsenal do win, I think it will be too little, too late for Wenger’s side as far as making the Champions League places goes - I think Liverpool and City will both win.

Royal Blood’s prediction: This is going to be a great game - Alexis Sanchez is going to put Arsenal ahead and Everton will bring it back in the 70th minute. 1-1

Other than their win over Tottenham, West Ham’s season has tailed off in the last few weeks.

Yes, the Hammers are missing some injured players but they have been very average for a while.

When their fans look at this season, it is their new stadium and their summer recruitment that have been the bugbears for them.

For a while it looked like Slaven Bilic’s side were going to get dragged into a relegation skirmish but they are going to get a mid-table finish, which is probably what they deserve.

West Ham are not a bad side when everyone is fit but, if they want a repeat of their seventh-place finish in 2015-16, they definitely need to sign some better players.

Burnley’s target this season was to stay up and they have done it. It is mission accomplished and they can build again, which is great.

Their home form has been the key and I think it helped that they got an ‘extra’ match at Turf Moor early in the season - the venue of their game with Liverpool in August was switched because Anfield was not ready.

They won that game which not only gave them points on the board but it also set the tone for the rest of the campaign. They have never really been under much pressure.

Chelsea will get their hands on the Premier League trophy at the final whistle and and will want to sign off with a win but I am not sure what sort of team Antonio Conte will pick before the FA Cup final.

He made lots of changes for Monday’s win over Watford but will have to be careful about doing the same for this game.

If, say, striker Diego Costa does not play then he will go two weeks without playing before facing Arsenal at Wembley and it is easy for players to lose their edge.

Whatever team Conte picks, I don’t think Sunderland will be able to stop the Blues from finishing their title-winning campaign on a high note.

There are more questions than answers about what will happen next at the Black Cats, and the only thing we really know is that they will be in the Championship next season.

Royal Blood’s prediction: This is top versus bottom but I wonder who will play for Chelsea? I hope they give some young players a chance, and I think they will win anyway. 3-0

Hull were relegated after losing to Crystal Palace last week but it was their home defeat against Sunderland in their previous game that really did the damage.

Tottenham said goodbye to White Hart Lane with a deserved win over Manchester United and they will want to finish the season strongly despite missing out on the title.

People will say they did not win anything but Spurs are a very good side who came close to winning the title - they did not bottle it one bit.

Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino is doing a great job and the rest of the top six would take a lot of their players if they could - that is how good they are.

Analysis: I’d back Spurs for the title if they were staying at White Hart Lane - Jenas

Bournemouth have already bettered their points tally from last season, despite having a slippery month or two at the start of 2017.

Joshua King has been brilliant since Callum Wilson was injured at the start of February and the Norwegian striker has made astonishing progress as a player since I saw him when he came on loan to Preston in 2010.

The Cherries are already in the top 10 and, if they can become a little bit meaner defensively, then they can continue their progress next season.

Leicester will go above them - and into the top half - with a win, however, and that is what I think will happen.

I do not understand why the Foxes have not revealed yet whether Craig Shakespeare will stay on as manager, but he deserves to keep the job because he turned their season around.

A win for Liverpool will secure a top-four finish and surely even they cannot slip up this time.

It is all very well saying because Middlesbrough are down already, the pressure is off them and they can go to Anfield and play their football - well, I have not seen Boro play any for the past 37 games.

One big effort from Liverpool will get them over the line, and there will be a good atmosphere which will help.

It is a big game and if they are not revved up and they cannot beat Boro, then they do not deserve to be in the Champions League.

Crystal Palace are safe from relegation and in normal circumstances I would be expecting an open game on the final day of the season.

But I have no idea what sort of team either manager will put out, so it is very difficult to predict the outcome.

Jose Mourinho will make lots of changes before Wednesday’s Europa League final, but he has such a big squad that it could still be a strong Manchester United side, if he wants it to be.

Royal Blood’s prediction: United have not had a great season and might rest a few but I think they are going to win this one. 2-1

Southampton are guaranteed a top-half finish, which underlines that they have had another very good season.

Stoke’s form has been heading in a downhill direction for a while now but the nature of the last day of the season always throws up some unexpected results, and I think this game will provide one of them.

This could have been a very tense affair but the pressure is off Swansea after they secured their survival last weekend, and instead it will be party time for them.

I was at West Brom’s defeat at Manchester City on Tuesday and they will not change - Tony Pulis will set them up to try to make life difficult for the opposition.

Again, this game is hard to predict because there is nothing really riding on it but I think Paul Clement will have three points to celebrate, as well as staying up.

I had been wondering for a while what was going to happen to Watford boss Walter Mazzarri, and it was no surprise when it was announced this week that he will be leaving.

I think the Hornets will play well in his farewell game but I still think Manchester City will get the win they need to secure third place.

City are playing well and I thought Vincent Kompany looked great at the back when I watched him against West Brom at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday.

An open game would definitely suit Pep Guardiola’s side and surely Watford will not sit in, because what would be the point of that?

Royal Blood’s prediction: City are going to destroy them. 1-4

From last weekend’s Premier League matches, Lawro got six correct results, including two perfect scores, from 10 matches, for a total of 120 points.

He beat world tennis number one Andy Murray, who also got six correct results but with one perfect scores for a tally of 90 points.

Lawro also picked up 40 more points for correctly predicting the outcome of the four midweek fixtures, with more to come depending on Leicester v Tottenham on Thursday.

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@VirginMediaCorp - VirginMediaCorporate

The match may be over, but our campaign against disability discrimination has just begun. #AllTheFootball, for all… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/865236934767108096

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Summary of non-mainstream articles: 18/05/2017 21:05:01

| | Southampton 0-0 Manchester United – Three things we learntTHEBOOTROOM |
|

| PL rival plotting to add to Puel’s woes with summer swoopSHOOTCOUK |

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Sourced from Southampton FC - Official Site article

Season Tickets back on sale this weekend

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Sales were paused after the renewal deadline passed last Sunday night, as supporters who had requested to move seats had their transfers processed.

They will now be restarting from 9.30am BST this Saturday, with Official Members being given a priority window to choose from any of the remaining available seats at St Mary’s.

From 9am BST on Sunday, sales will then be opened up to all supporters.

More than 1,000 new Season Tickets have already been purchased, so why not secure your own piece of St Mary’s for 2017/18?

Here are some of the key points if you are looking to buy one:

• Prices start from £531 for Adults / £355 Over-65s / £243 18-21s / £150 Under-18s / £50 Under-11s

• Call 02381 780780, visit the St Mary’s Ticket Office, or head to tickets.saintsfc.co.uk to buy

• Read more about the benefits at southamptonfc.com/seasontickets

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Sourced from Southampton FC - Official Site article

Matchday Playlist: Saints vs Man United

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Predict The Score: Saints vs Stoke

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Our final Predict The Score competition of the season is now open!

We’ve got one more shirt signed by the players to give away this term, and you could be our winner.

To be in with a chance, all you’ve got to do is guess the result of Sunday’s end-of-season clash with Stoke City, as well as the first goalscorer.

Click here to submit your prediction, and good luck!

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Sourced from Mirror.co.uk article

ANDY DUNN: Mazzarri sack apathy reflects view managers are just cogs in machine

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Tactics on the back of a fag packet, the English-speaking skills of Manuel from Fawlty Towers, training sessions more suitable for a chain gang, an ongoing ruck with the captain, it is a wonder Walter Mazzarri did not have Watford relegated by Christmas.

Instead, he had them safe with a good month to spare and they were only in the bottom three at a time so early in the season that league tables should not even be published.

Yet Mazzarri’s departure had been inevitable for some time.

He will not be missed by Watford’s supporters, clearly, and his impact on English football will not even make a footnote.

If he is remembered at all, it will be as a lookalike.

His team had its moments, notably wins at home to Manchester United and away over Arsenal .

They could yet add the scalp of Manchester City in what will be a slightly bizarre final game for Mazzarri, a manager sacked but asked to hang around for a formal good-riddance.

It has seen some emotional times, Vicarage Road, but Sunday and the Italian’s farewell is unlikely to be one of them.

Like most, this is a set of supporters probably longing to embrace a manager, but Mazzarri seemed pretty impossible to embrace, for fans and players alike.

In isolation, this sacking is understandable, but it is also a very modern, a very Watford, dismissal, based on the notion that a manager is a cog in the machine.

An important cog, yes, but a cog.

Southampton chairman Ralph Krueger has indicated Claude Puel ’s position will be come under ‘review’ after the final game of the Frenchman’s debut season.

To the outsider, that ‘review’ is simple.

Saints are in the top half of the table, were magnificent and unfortunate in the EFL Cup final defeat and play some decent stuff for a club that regularly sells its best players.

But if the board believe they can get someone to do the job better than Puel, it is their prerogative to make a change.

In the cases of Watford and Southampton, what is important is the stability of the club, not in the manager’s office. What is important is a sound structure, of which the gaffer is just one other part.

All well and good, but when taken to an extreme level it dehumanises the role of the manager.

The team is, of course, the important thing. The players are the heroes or villains, but there remains something special about a bond between a manager and the supporters.

That is why outsiders look at the relationship between Burnley fans and Sean Dyche (formerly of the Watford parish) with affection. Ditto for Bournemouth and Eddie Howe.

If either of those two were sacked, there would be an outcry even beyond their towns’ borders, yet a lot of people will have greeted the news of Mazzarri’s fate with a shrug — There go Watford again. Foreign owners ditching another foreign manager who kept a lot of foreign players in the Premier League.

It does not tell the story.

It does not reflect the positive strides made at the club.

It does not remind you of the place Watford were in half a decade ago.

It is pretty clear Mazzarri was not the right man for the job. It is less obvious to see, but maybe Puel is not the right man for the Southampton job.

And a business model of changing your manager even though results are not catastrophic can clearly work, but football surely has to be more than just about business at some stage?

Maybe they have tried. Maybe they thought Mazzarri was THE one. But maybe this time owner Gino Pozzo and Watford should try just that little bit harder.

Unless they are happy for the fortunes of a smashing club to be acknowledged with just a shrug.

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Sourced from Daily Mail article

Southampton set to axe Claude Puel after clashes with players

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Claude Puel is expected to be relinquished of his position as Southampton’s manager after the season has concluded.

The Frenchman has had a largely disappointing first year on the south coast masked somewhat by their run to the EFL Cup final, where they were beaten by Manchester United.

Regardless of the result in their final Premier League game of the campaign against Stoke on Sunday, Southampton will post their lowest points tally in four seasons, their first drop since they were promoted in 2012.

Since they rejoined the Premier League, Southampton have finished 14th on 41 points, eight on 56 points, seventh on 60 points and sixth on 63 points. Victory against Stoke will leave them on 49 points.

They were also expected to progress to the knockout stages of the Europa League, but, despite an historic victory against Inter Milan at St Mary’s last November, they finished behind Sparta Prague and Hapoel Be’er Sheva in their group.

Sportsmail has been told that Puel has repeatedly clashed with numerous players this season who are unhappy with his erratic rotation policy, often changing half the starting XI for each match.

He is also wildly unpopular amongst many supporters who dislike his negative tactics. Their goalless draw against Manchester United on Wednesday night meant they did not score at home in the top flight for four successive matches for the first time in the club’s history.

A review of the season, led by executive director Les Reed, will take place next week.

Puel dismissed questions about his precarious situation following the United draw, arguing that every club will go through an end of season ‘debrief’, but figures close to the club believe he will be replaced.

Hull City manager Marco Silva is a potential target, but the club will not rush appointing a new manager for next season.

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Our latest #SaintsFC St Mary’s playlist is now available on @Spotify! Check it out here: http://sfcne.ws/SpotifyMUFCH

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Summary of non-mainstream articles: 18/05/2017 22:05:13

| | Why Southampton would be mad to turn down £60m offer for in demand starFOOTBALLFANCAST |
| | Napoli make first move in chase for Saints target BrumaREADSOUTHAMPTON |

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Read Southampton

New content from (- Read Southampton)

| Southampton interested in Championship top scorer | Southampton are reportedly interested in Leeds United striker Chris Wood. According to a report from the Mirror, … 18-05-2017 |

Older content…

| Claude Puel in line to be sacked by Southampton after bust-ups with playersa day ago |
| Five Things Learned: Manchester United (H)a day ago |
| Who was your man of the match? - Manchester United (H)a day ago |
| Napoli to make £8m bid for Portuguese winger, with Southampton and Leicester keena day ago |
| Southampton ahead of Everton in chase for Sporting defendera day ago |
| Five Who Impressed - Manchester United (H)a day ago |
| Southampton’s managerial target to snub Watford’s offersa day ago |
| Southampton joined by Everton, Crystal Palace and West Brom at Eupen clasha day ago |
| Southampton keen on Fulham midfieldera day ago |

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