OptiNews - Friday 13 to Thursday 19 October 2017

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Sourced from Daily Echo article

Saints stars set to discover World Cup play-off fate

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STEVEN Davis, Manolo Gabbiadini and Shane Long will discover their World Cup play-off fate tomorrow.

The World Cup European play-off draw takes place at FIFA’s Zurich headquarters at 1pm.

Davis and Northern Ireland finished second in Group C, while Gabbiadini and Italy were runners-up behind Spain and Long with the Republic of Ireland came in second in Group D behind Dusan Tadic and Serbia.

Here’s how the play-off will unfold and what it means.

What is the point of the play-offs?

The two-legged ties will determine the four sides who will join Europe’s nine group winners - France, Portugal, Germany, Serbia, Poland, England, Spain, Belgium and Iceland - at Russia 2018. The eight best second-placed teams (Slovakia missed out despite finishing runners-up to England in Group F) will battle for the four remaining qualifying spots. Joining Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in the draw are: Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, Italy, Greece and Croatia.

How will the draw work?

The eight qualified teams have been divided into two pots based on the world rankings, announced by FIFA on Monday. Based on the rankings, Switzerland (11th), Italy (15th), Croatia (18th) and Denmark (19th) will be in pot one and will play one of the four teams in pot two. The second pot will contain Northern Ireland (23rd), Sweden (25th), Republic of Ireland (26th) and Greece (47th), so Northern Ireland and the Republic cannot play each other. Likewise they cannot play Sweden or Greece.

What are Northern Ireland and the Republic’s play-off records?

The Republic have won three of eight play-off ties, but two of those wins have come at the last two attempts, against Estonia to go to Euro 2012 and Bosnia-Herzegovina to advance to Euro 2016. Northern Ireland are new to the play-offs, having qualified automatically for last year’s European Championships.

Who will be the team for Northern Ireland and the Republic to avoid?

Italy. The Azzurri are only in the play-offs because they had the misfortune of being in the same qualifying group as Spain. They may be lower than Switzerland in FIFA’s rankings, but they will still be a formidable opponent.

When will the matches be played?

Home and away fixtures will be played between November 9 and November 15. The order of fixtures will be determined by the draw. Once one ball has been taken from pot one and another from pot two, they will be placed in a central pot, mixed and then drawn one by one. The first ball drawn will host the first leg between November 9 and 11. The return leg takes place between November 12 and 14.

Who goes to Russia?

The winner is decided on aggregate, so the scorer of the most goals advances to the World Cup finals. In event of a draw on aggregate, away goals apply. If there is still no deciding factor at the end of normal time, then the tie will go to extra time (two periods of 15 minutes), with the away goals rule still applicable. If there is still no winner, then the tie will go to a penalty shootout.

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Sourced from A tweet by SouthamptonFC tweet

@SouthamptonFC - Southampton FC

Join us LIVE from St Mary’s tonight, as #SaintsFCU23s take on #NUFC in #PL2 action. Kick-off is at 7pm!

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Sourced from Sky Sports article

Ref Watch: No Richarlison penalty but he’ll escape FA action, says Dermot Gallagher

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Arsenal were unfortunate to concede a penalty against Watford but Richarlison is unlikely to face retrospective action, says Dermot Gallagher on Ref Watch.

Also up for discussion is Romelu Lukaku’s clash with Dejan Lovren at Anfield and Andy Carroll’s red card for West Ham against Burnley.

Read on to see Dermot’s verdict on the weekend’s biggest incidents and if they were handled properly by the officials…

INCIDENT: Romelu Lukaku catches Dejan Lovren in the face with a flailing boot - nothing was given.

DERMOT SAYS: Much has been made of it, but I don’t know why. Lovren puts himself in that position, plays the ball and ends up on the floor. Lukaku then bumps into him through no fault of his own. He moved away quickly - he can’t make his body suspend in air.

It was just a coming together. We need to be careful not to act with knee-jerk reactions - there is a physical element to the game. This incident was a natural coming together.

INCIDENT: With Arsenal 1-0 down, a penalty was awarded to Watford following Hector Bellerin’s foul on Richarlison. Arsene Wenger called it a “scandalous” decision.

DERMOT SAYS: I feel sorry for the referee. There is a slight clip but not enough to give a penalty. The player has gone down so easily that he’s made the referee’s mind up for him. I don’t think this will fall into the retrospective action category.

The same referee didn’t give a penalty when Dele Alli dived at Huddersfield - if that one had been given as a penalty, it would have gone to the review panel. This one, there was a little nick so the player will argue that was enough to bring him down. It doesn’t fall into the remit of trying to deceive a referee.

INCIDENT: Already on a booking, DeAndre Yedlin flies into a challenge with Nathan Redmond but escapes a second yellow card.

DERMOT SAYS: This is where my job gets difficult - it isn’t up for a debate, it’s a second yellow card. I don’t see the purpose of talking to the captain as the purpose is for the not player not to do it again. The easiest decision there was to award a second yellow card - it’s obvious to everyone. Maybe he’s not seen it correctly?

INCIDENT: Bruno catches Dominic Calvert-Lewin in the face and a penalty is awarded. Bruno is booked.

DERMOT’S VERDICT: Correct call, but should have been red.

DERMOT SAYS: I was surprised this was just a yellow card for three reasons. Bruno looks at Calvert-Lewin, then he goes for him and he can’t possibly play the ball because the ball is so far above his head. I think there were only two options here: either it was an accidental foul and you give the penalty or you give a penalty and a straight red card.

INCIDENT: Andy Carroll saw red for two yellow cards within two minutes of each other. Did Stuart Attwell get this right?

DERMOT SAYS: The first one is a yellow card. It’s the reckless nature of his leading arm, if you catch someone like that you run the risk. There’s no debate about the second one either - even Slaven Bilic had no complaints. The second one could have been a straight red but the correct outcome was achieved with Carroll leaving the pitch.

INCIDENT: There was controversy at Griffin Park on Saturday as the referee denied Millwall a goal to award a penalty, before Lee Gregory went on to miss the resulting spot-kick.

DERMOT SAYS: The referee would have been very brave to carry on. It’s all about the consequence of the decision rather than the decision itself. I would have given a penalty, too. If I see a penalty, I’d rather give it rather than gamble unless someone is about to roll it into the empty net.

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Sourced from Optimus trousers summary article summary

Summary of non-mainstream articles: 16/10/2017 16:17:51

| | Vote For The Ultimate Saints Team - Southampton NewsTHEUGLYINSIDE |
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| Luke Shaw was ‘like a son’ to Pochettino at SouthamptonFOOTBALL365 |
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| Southampton extended highlightsNUFC |
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| Five positives to take from yesterday’s display at Southampton | NUFC Blog - Newcastle United BlogNUFCBLOG |

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Sourced from A tweet by SouthamptonFC tweet

@SouthamptonFC - Southampton FC

Watch as tonight’s #SaintsFCU23s squad arrived at St Mary’s ahead of the clash with #NUFC in #PL2:

Retweets: 0

Favourites: 5

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Sourced from A tweet by SouthamptonFC tweet

@SouthamptonFC - Southampton FC

Team news has arrived! Here’s how #SaintsFCU23s line-up against #NUFC at St Mary’s this evening:

Retweets: 3

Favourites: 16

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Sourced from Optimus trousers summary article summary

Summary of non-mainstream articles: 16/10/2017 17:18:06

| | History at St Mary’s makes frustrating draw all the more significant for Newcastle UnitedSPORTSKEEDA |
| | Former top referee gives verdict on contentious Southampton v Newcastle decision | NUFCTHEMAG |
| | Alan Pardew says he wanted to sign Virgil Van Dijk for NUFCCHRONICLELIVENEWS |

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Sourced from Sky Sports article

Premier League weekend grades: Ray Wilkins gives his verdict

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Did your Premier League team live up to expectations this weekend?

We’ve asked Sky Sports Now pundit Ray Wilkins to give each side a grade, based purely on their weekend performance.

So, how did your team fare? Did they get a stunning A*, an awful F, or something in between? Read on to find out…

Just awesome, absolutely awesome. I have seen some good football played in the Premier League, but that was probably one of the best exhibitions I have seen in a long while. Barcelona fans will have seen this for a number of years, but I think we actually saw the first coming of Barcelona II. They were just fantastic, the one and two touch and effort when out of possession to get the ball back, that was a [Pep] Guardiola side on Saturday as some of their football was just splendid.

I felt for Stoke, that could have been anybody. I think when a team hits that type of form, you are just unlucky that you are there to be perfectly honest. So I will give them a ‘C’ as they got thumped, but they would have thumped 99.9 per cent of the sides in the Premier League.

Despite Liverpool creating the best chances, they are playing at Anfield with that crowd behind them, so I will also give them a ‘B’.

I honestly thought Man Utd would take the game to Liverpool with the quality they have in their team. So the fact that for 10 minutes they did, and then after that Jose seemed to be a little bit afraid of going for the victory, means I am going to give them a ‘B’.

It would have been a game that Brighton felt, at this moment in time, that they had a real chance of putting one over on Everton, so I would have thought they would have got the three points.

They have had a bit of a struggle at the moment, but they went there and got a result and Ronald Koeman said that with a little bit more luck, they could have got a win, but they need to up their game.

Manolo Gabbiadini looks sharp at the moment, he has a lovely left foot, makes some good runs, but Southampton really have to put teams more on the back foot.

Newcastle took advantage of Southampton’s current problems, Rafa Benitez knows how to set a team up away from home, to hit teams on the counterattack, which they did.

The one thing about Watford is they have this spirit to keep going and playing. Being thumped by Man City a few weeks ago, they would have had a bit of trepidation going into this game against Arsenal, but they came out of it with flying colours.

When Arsenal went in front, I thought this could be two or three and they had those opportunities to put it to two or three, but unfortunately did not take them and you know in the Premier League that if you do not take your opportunities then someone will come back and bite you on the backside. And that is exactly what Watford did.

They just did enough, but Wembley is not being too friendly to Tottenham at the moment and I think it is going to be the same the whole season through. It is a very difficult time for Tottenham at the moment, with Real Madrid and Liverpool to come there over the next few weeks, and a trip to Man Utd, so it was imperative that they won, got that monkey off their backs and picked up the three points. So I am going to go for ‘B’ for them as they did not create many openings in the game.

It is a difficult time for them, they are struggling near the foot of the table, they can’t score a goal and it is almost as though everything is going against them at the moment. They had a couple of chances near the end and Hugo Lloris made an unbelievable save in the first half.

Swansea would have liked to have got on the front foot and I think from the kick-off, if you saw Tammy Abraham’s reaction to the kick-off, he took the whole team forward. And that is what I meant by getting on the front foot - start imposing yourself on the opposition and that is what Abraham did, and he scored his two goals.

It is a difficult time for Huddersfield as they are coming into a time now where the honeymoon is over, they are in the big time, and can they live up to that big-time status? They cannot seem to score a goal at the moment, so that is a bit of a problem. But it was always going to be difficult for them,

I am going to give them an ‘A’. The one thing that Roy [Hodgson] does is he has this ability to organise, whether it be defensively, and people say he is a defensive coach, it does not matter - If you are keeping a clean sheet, or keeping Chelsea down to one goal and you are scoring two, then that is a magnificent result for them. Not many people would have given them a chance of picking up even a point against Man City, Man Utd and Chelsea. A remarkable job on Saturday, they worked their socks off, very well organised and Wilfried Zaha scored a fine goal, even if their first was a little fortunate.

Chelsea were poor, very poor indeed and it just goes to show that with Diego Costa not being there, he is a massive loss to them. I know Alvaro Morata has done very well indeed for them since he came to the club, but there is no back-up. Unfortunately, Michy Batshuayi has not hit the ground running, he has been given an opportunity and was a little bit upset at being taken off as well, but I did not think he merited staying on the pitch to be honest. If he looks back on it and analyses the game, he will think: ‘I was pretty poor on Saturday’. But Chelsea without a centre-forward are going to struggle.

Burnley are Burnley, they keep going and Chris Wood was a very astute buy by Sean Dyche, I think he bought very well there, and full credit to him.

The result could have been slightly different had Andy Carroll stayed on the pitch - the two challenges, especially the second one coming 30 seconds after the first, was a little bit crazy. Andy can be effective, but when he does that and leaves you with 10 men… it is tough enough to play with 11 men in the Premier League, let alone with 10, so they did well West Ham.

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Sourced from A tweet by SouthamptonFC tweet

@SouthamptonFC - Southampton FC

1: We’re under way here at St Mary’s, as #SaintsFCU23s take on #NUFC in the #PL2:

https://youtu.be/bgrhMvrZAWc

Retweets: 0

Favourites: 1

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Sourced from A tweet by SouthamptonFC tweet

@SouthamptonFC - Southampton FC

GOAL: #SaintsFCU23s 1-0 #NUFC (Marcus Barnes 8’)

Marcus Barnes converts a James Ward-Prowse corner from close rang… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/919989031588585472

Retweets: 1

Favourites: 8

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Sourced from Optimus trousers summary article summary

Summary of non-mainstream articles: 16/10/2017 18:18:19

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| Southampton Struggling To Forge An Identity Under Mauricio PellegrinoTHESPORTSMAN |
| | ‘Stoke or Southampton should act’ - You have to wonder how long this player will stay at NorwichFOOTBALLLEAGUEWORLD |

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Sourced from A tweet by SouthamptonFC tweet

@SouthamptonFC - Southampton FC

GOAL: #SaintsFCU23s 2-0 #NUFC (Jonathan Afolabi 17’)

@Prowsey16’s corner is turned in by Afolabi, giving #SaintsFC… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/919992167799705601

Retweets: 5

Favourites: 22

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Sourced from A tweet by SouthamptonFC tweet

@SouthamptonFC - Southampton FC

Marcus Barnes and Jan Bednarek celebrate #SaintsFCU23s opening goal at St Mary’s!

Retweets: 3

Favourites: 19

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Sourced from A tweet by SouthamptonFC tweet

@SouthamptonFC - Southampton FC

GOAL: #SaintsFCU23s 3-0 #NUFC (Sam McQueen 37’)

McQueen heads home from a Valery cross to give #SaintsFC a hat-tri… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/919996912245276672

Retweets: 4

Favourites: 38

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Sourced from A tweet by SouthamptonFC tweet

@SouthamptonFC - Southampton FC

HALF-TIME: #SaintsFCU23s 3-0 #NUFC

#SaintsFC three goals to the good and with a commanding lead at the break:

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Sourced from A tweet by SouthamptonFC tweet

@SouthamptonFC - Southampton FC

46: We’re back under way here at St Mary’s, where #SaintsFCU23s lead by three goals. #saintsfc

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Sourced from Sky Sports article

Should Yedlin have been sent off?

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Jamie Redknapp and Alan Pardew both felt DeAndre Yedlin was lucky to escape a yellow card which would have resulted in him being sent off after his challenge on Nathan Redmond.

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Summary of non-mainstream articles: 16/10/2017 19:18:32

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| NUFC: the month ahead | NUFC Blog - Newcastle United BlogNUFCBLOG |
| | Florian Lejeune’s Newcastle recall explained – and what it means for Ciaran ClarkTHESHIELDSGAZETTE |
| | Report suggests Southampton are to rival PL giants for defensive starlet | | Where football transfer rumours fly or die!THETRANSFERTAVERN |
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| Burnley and Southampton to go on sale WednesdayBOURN |
| | Liverpool turn to youth as they bid to keep teenage stars and add Dutch defender: transfer rumoursBELFASTTELE |
| | ‘Death row shows more happiness’ – Southampton fans slate pair on Twitter after weekend draw | | Where football …THETRANSFERTAVERN |

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Sourced from A tweet by SouthamptonFC tweet

@SouthamptonFC - Southampton FC

66: No change in the scoreline after the interval. #SaintsFCU23s with chances to further extend their lead, but non… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/920007550044696576

Retweets: 1

Favourites: 5

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Sourced from A tweet by SouthamptonFC tweet

@SouthamptonFC - Southampton FC

GOAL: #SaintsFCU23s 3-1 #NUFC (Tom Heardman 71’)

Second-half substitute Heardman heads home to reduce the deficit for the visitors.

Retweets: 0

Favourites: 4

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