| Saints linked with Yoric Ravet | Southampton are being linked with a move for Young Boys midfielder Yoric Ravet. According to the printed edition of … 18-01-2017 |
Saints host the Canaries in a third-round replay tonight (7.45pm GMT), with the winner’s reward a home tie with Arsenal.
Steven Naismith’s last-gasp goal at Carrow Road earned Norwich a 2-2 draw in the initial meeting earlier this month, and Puel is expecting to see plenty of fight from their opponents again this evening.
"They are a good team,” he said. “They are trying to get back to the Premier League, they have good ability and are strong in the battles.
“We played a good game against this team, but it was a pity to take the goal right at the end. Now it’s important to finish the work. It’s important to keep a positive attitude, like we have done in all our games in the cups.
“We have to concentrate, because it’s a difficult game always, with battles, against a typical Championship team, so you need to have good concentration."
Leicester City are prepared to trigger Middlesbrough attacker Gaston Ramirez’s £15 million release clause, as Leonardo Ulloa heads for the exit, writes John Percy.
Claudio Ranieri has made an inquiry for Ramirez as he starts to shake up his squad and is set to move for the Uruguay international.
Middlesbrough could sell Ramirez to finance other deals and Leicester are hoping to bring in a further two players, including a centre-half, before the transfer window closes.
Ulloa, the striker, is poised to submit a written transfer request to force a move from the Premier League champions.
The second part of our half-term report turns to defenders. Some are unsung heroes, some are household names, but each and every one of our 20 knows the red-meat, full-fat joy of kicking some tricky winger or preening striker up in the air, or executing a well-timed tackle. Or a bit of both.
We’ve used a combination of tackles made, aerial success rate, interceptions and a bit of x factor as well. Defending is an art as much as it is a science and we have tried to give props to men doing a job in the weaker teams as well as just the back fours of the big boys. Here’s our 20 of the best so far…
A 2-2 draw at Carrow Road set up a third round replay at St Mary’s, and Stephens has reiterated the collective desire to continue competing in all three competitions.
“It’s important to fight on all fronts and just do as well as we can in these cups because it’s important for us and the fans as well,” said Stephens.
“Especially for the English lads, we know the importance of this cup in this country.
“Sometimes it gets lost a little but it’s still an important competition.”
Stephens made his Premier League debut against Everton when he replaced Cédric, before starting against Norwich City.
And he is hoping to have done enough to be involved again in the replay at St Mary’s as the England Under-21 international continues to gain valuable experience.
“I’ve been working hard in training and hopefully the manager sees that and gives me another chance,” said Stephens.
“It’s been great. It’s what I’ve been working for all season and I knew it would be difficult to try and get into this team because there are so many good players.
“It was great to get an opportunity against Everton and then play again at Norwich in the cup so hopefully I can push on now and try to get a few more.”
This morning we looked ahead to tonight’s FA Cup third round replays, with Coral offering a 9/4 treble on favourites Liverpool, Southampton and Newcastle to win.
But, the FA Cup is always full of surprises, so – after non-league sides Sutton United and Lincoln City secured two big shocks last night – will we see another upset?
League Two outfit Plymouth Argyle are 9/1 to beat Liverpool at home – having held them to a 0-0 draw at Anfield – Norwich are 11/2 to stun Southampton at St Mary’s and Birmingham are 5/1 to beat Newcastle away at St James’ Park.
Coral is the official betting partner of the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast
Club Southampton is offering you the opportunity to join Saints legends Matt Le Tissier and Kelvin Davis for our home game against Leicester City.
A late change has been made to the line-up, with Davis now joining Le Tissier rather than Franny Benali, who has been called up by Sky Sports for Sunday’s game.
The duo will be joining us in the President’s Lounge for the visit of the Premier League champions, on Sunday 22nd January (kick-off 12pm GMT).
Le Tissier and Davis will be enjoying Club Southampton hospitality experience with fans, while also conducting a Sunday Supplement-style discussion with guests.
In addition there will be a few other Ex-Saints joining such as, Gordon Watson, Mike Earls and Manny Andruszewski.
You can still secure your place in the President’s Lounge for the game, with packages priced at £150 + VAT.
With top-quality food, a variety of complimentary drinks, attentive service and the chance to hear from two Southampton legends, it is a fantastic opportunity to watch Saints in true style.
Make an enquiry online now, or call 02380 727768 to ensure you don’t miss out.
As far as football fans everywhere are concerned, ‘simulation’ (to use The FA’s technical term) is one of the biggest problems in the game.
What some players might call ‘the art of winning a penalty’ is, to the rest of the world, a very blatant example of cheating. Simple as that.
With that in mind, no team would want to be labelled the Premier League’s biggest divers. Unfortunately for the top-flight’s worst offenders, we now have the stats which allow us to identify the serrial simulators.
Thanks to some top class research from Squawka, we now have a list of the Premier League teams who have been involved in the most diving incidents since 2012/13.
As you can see in this graph, there is one team clearly in first place… and it’s a team used to topping a far more positive table:
Yes, Chelsea have been - by some distance - the worst Premier League divers over the last four and a bit seasons.
Sunderland (somewhat bizarrely) run them close in second place, but The Blues are certainly the worst offenders. In fact, their total of 21 diving offences is 50 percent more than any side other than the Mackems.
| Saints V Norwich City The Preview | Saints take on the Canaries in this 3rd round replay and need to get a result to keep the fans from complete mutiny. 18-01-2017 |
Often in the Premier League there’s a notable difference in the form of clubs on home soil compared to on the road.
Home fans do their best to create the most intimidating of environments for the visiting team, which can play on the nerves of the players in unfamiliar territory.
For some clubs, however, it can have quite the opposite effect.
So we’ve taken a look at the results and have put together a Premier League table based on each team’s away form only.
Check out where your side ranks by scrolling through the gallery above.
ALSO SEE: HOW THE PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE WOULD LOOK BASED ON HOME RESULTS ONLY
| Alex Neil hoping for more Norwich City resilience during FA Cup replay at SouthamptonTHEPINKUN |
| 4-3-3: This Southampton XI will demolish Leicester City on Sunday | | Where football transfer rumours fly or die!THETRANSFERTAVERN |
| Southampton boss Claude Puel bemoans bad luck ahead of Norwich City replayTHEPINKUN |
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“It’s an important competition.”
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