The Automatic Saints News Thread

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Away form pleases Puel

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In the last week, Saints have won 3-0 at West Ham and toughed out a 0-0 draw away to Hapoel Be’er Sheva in the UEFA Europa League.

That followed an impressive display in a cruel 2-1 defeat at Arsenal in their previous away outing, and Puel takes great confidence from these displays ahead of Sunday’s trip to the Premier League champions.

“We stayed with a good dynamic to take one point on the long journey to Israel, with the difficult conditions against a good team,” said the Saints boss.

“That gives us confidence for the future, because now we can see after the game at West Ham and after this game that we can play away in different and difficult conditions and can give a good answer to that every time. This is interesting for the future.”

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Sourced from Mirror.co.uk article

Ryan Bertrand admits he is jealous of Leicester’s title success

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But the Southampton and England star admits there’ll still be a hint of the green-eyed monster when he comes up against Leicester’s Premier League champions on Sunday.

Bertrand , who made his Champions League debut for Chelsea in the 2012 final in Munich and won the Europa League with the Blues a year later, would love to scoop the one big club-level gong to elude him.

Speaking at the launch of EA SPORTS FIFA 17, he said: “There’s definitely a tinge of ­jealousy — you want to win things and the Premier League is right up there.

“It’s the consistency of winning the league, that’s the thing about it. Having been in the sport a decent amount of time now, I can say the consistency is what everyone is searching for.

“Winning the league is a fantastic achievement and it was fully deserved by them last year.

“We were all Leicester fans by the end of the season, we all wanted them to do it.

“They’re commanding a bit more respect now, which is fully deserved, but, at the same time, that could make it harder for them this year.

“Going into games last year, all due respect, but teams playing against them would have been thinking, ‘It’s Leicester’.

“They’re a very good team, but perhaps the bigger teams wouldn’t give them that respect which they now command.

“But that also raises the other teams’ games, they’re going to be fully prepared.

Ranieri has no plans to stop Jamie Vardy’s pre-match drinking

“When you are in a successful team, which is winning titles, there are no easy games.

“When you are in a ­traditional top-four club, you could get a team who are right down there in the ­relegation zone and they will pull out a win against you because they go 110 per cent for that game. Then they’ll go and lose to a team in and around them the next week.

“That’s something Leicester have to deal with this year.”

Bertrand will have to deal with Riyad Mahrez on Sunday, who is getting closer again to the form which helped him win the Professional Footballers’ ­Association ­Footballer of the Year award last season.

But the Saints left-back, in a rich vein of form himself, insists there will be no special plans for the Algerian.

He added: “He had a fantastic season last year and he’s a tricky customer, but I’m just looking forward to doing my job, I won’t focus my game around Mahrez.

Leicester vs Southampton - Team news, line-ups, injury updates and more

“I’d rather concentrate on what I can do and let him worry about staying with me.

“If I can make him run the way I’m going, then he’s going to do less going the other way — that’s a little trick of the trade and one thing I’ll try to do.”

Mahrez will certainly have his hands full if Bertrand, who joined the Saints from Chelsea for £10million in February 2015, performs as he did in the 3-0 thumping of West Ham last week.

That was Southampton’s fourth win on the spin after Claude Puel’s side started the season with two draws and two defeats.

Bertrand said: “It’s a change – new tactics, new everything, to be honest – but he’s a good guy as well and easy to work for.

“He obviously likes his full-backs to attack and we’re starting a lot higher up the pitch this season.

“He has a whole ­footballing philosophy, he likes possession and we have been controlling games more.

“That’s one difference this season so far, we seem to have more of the possession – in a way, there’s more of a maturity about us.”

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Tadić pleased with his form

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The playmaker, who signed a new four-year contract in August, has been an influential part of Claude Puel’s team so far this campaign.

Tadić, who netted his first goal of the season in last weekend’s 3-0 win at West Ham, explained that he is feeling strong, as focus now turns to tomorrow’s trip to Leicester City.

“I feel really good physically and this is really important,” he said.

"We need just to play from our qualities, then everything is going to come from that.

“We have a good philosophy and we try to play for each other, and that’s it I think – that means we will have good results.”

While Tadić is feeling good physically, his freshness and that of many of his teammates will be tested this weekend, with a short turnaround from the Europa League trip to Israel, for the 0-0 draw with Hapoel Be’er Sheva.

But he has no doubt that they will be ready to go at King Power Stadium.

“We need to have a good recovery, and this is normal that we travel a lot, but we will be fresh,” he said.

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Sourced from Mirror.co.uk article

Van Dijk vows to improve Southampton’s defensive record with Leicester shutout

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Virgil van Dijk has vowed to maintain Southampton’s proud defensive record by shutting out champions Leicester on Sunday.

The miserly Saints have gone more than seven-and-a-half hours without conceding during an impressive run of four wins and a draw.

But Holland star Van Dijk, ­arguably the south-coast side’s player of the season so far, knows that run faces a stern test at the King Power Stadium.

The defender said: “Sunday is going to be a massive game and, hopefully, we can keep this good run going.

“Leicester are a great opponent and I am going to be ready for it. The defenders are not just defending by themselves. I think it starts up front and everybody can be proud of themselves.”

Leicester bounced back from last weekend’s 4-1 thrashing at Manchester United with an eye-catching Champions League win over Euro veterans Porto in midweek.

And Van Dijk, whose side had a long trip to Israel to take on Hapoel Be’er Sheva in the Europa League on Thursday, has warned his team-mates that they must respect the Foxes.

He added: “We have to respect the champions and they won in the Champions League this week so they are full of confidence.

“It’s going to be a great game and another challenge for everyone.

“We can beat anyone in this league, but it still needs hard work and us all sticking together.” After a tough start to his reign, manager Claude Puel has lifted the Saints up the table. Midfielder Oriol Romeu admitted it had taken a while for the players to get used to their new boss’s methods.

He said: “We are feeling comfortable now. The latest results have been very good, not just results but also the way we played and did a lot of things.”

Saints will recall top-scorer Charlie Austin, captain Jose Fonte, England left-back Ryan Bertrand and midfielder Steven Davis after the quartet were rested for the 0-0 draw in Israel.

And James Ward-Prowse wants three points to keep the feelgood factor flowing.

He said: “It would be brilliant to keep our run going with a win before the ­international break. We have to keep on building.”

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Sourced from Mirror.co.uk article

Best Bets for Arsenal at Burnley, Manchester City at Tottenham PLUS Manchester United and Leicester at home

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Arsene Wenger celebrates 20 years of marriage with a day trip to Burnley - not as fun as it sounds, as Liverpool and Watford have found out.

Arsenal should be different gravy here, but a two-footed lunge for the 4/11 away win is the sort of common sense that typically takes grip at pint three, and must be resisted.

Better value is the 19/20 (Coral) about ‘Arsenal clean sheet’ against these Clarets - is there a more gentle test for a defence in the Prem?

Stoke - who are managing just a couple of shots on target per game - do run Burnley close on that score, and a Manchester United clean sheet at Evens (Coral) is a solid play in the brunchtime kick-off at Old Trafford.

Leicester are priced right at 5/4 to win their Euro hangover face-off with Southampton , who had a trip to Israel on Thursday night.

Take a SCORE DRAW at 7/2 (BetVic) when Manchester City go to White Hart Lane.

And persevere with Tottenham’s Toby Alderweireld ‘anytime scorer’ as a fun value longshot at 16/1 (Bwin)

Last week: Winner at 10/11

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Sourced from Daily Star article

Which Premier League club’s away matches are the cheapest to go and watch?

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Money-saving website Voucherbox.co.uk reveal that Chelsea and champions Leicester are among the five cheapest teams to support on the road.

The estimated findings take into account away ticket prices as well as coach travel as outlined on either the club or supporters’ websites.

How affordable is it to attend your favourite team’s upcoming away games? How high up do they rank?

Check out our gallery above for more.

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How good is your club’s attack? Every Premier League strikeforce ranked and reviewed

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We’ve given the attack of every Premier League club a score out of 10 and ranked them from worst to best.

A whole range of skills and variety of talents are required to form a successful strikeforce and we’ve taken into account finishing, pace, hold-up play, creativity and big-game prowess to analyse each club’s frontline as a whole.

Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal are the title favourites, but do any of their strikeforces come out on top?

CLICK THROUGH THE GALLERY ABOVE AS WE COUNT DOWN THE PREM’S ATTACKS FROM WORST TO BEST.

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Sourced from Southampton FC - Official Site article

Video: Tadić previews Foxes clash

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Austin set to discover England fate

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CHARLIE Austin will today find out whether his recent goal-den form has won him a second senior international call-up.

The Saints striker has scored five goals in his last four league and cup games to spark talk of a possible call-up for next month’s World Cup qualifiers with Malta and Slovenia.

With Harry Kane ruled out through injury, there is room for a new striker.

No English striker has scored more club goals in 2016/17 than Austin, who won a call up to the squad in May 2015 but didn’t play.

Ex-Saints Michail Antonio and Theo Walcott have also scored five, as has Raheem Sterling – though none of those are a central striker.

Marcus Rashford is likely to be named in Gareth Southgate’s first team, after being left out of the under-21 squad named on Thursday. But he has not been playing in a central role either.

Southgate has been placed in charge of the senior side’s next four games in the wake of Sam Allardyce’s departure.

The ex-Middlesbrough manager has the chance to shape the England team heading into 2017.

Could he, over his games in charge, promote Nathan Redmond and/or James Ward-Prowse?

Redmond has long been seen as the next player to step off the under-21 conveyor belt.

Five Saints have made their senior England debut since 2013 – Rickie Lambert, Jay Rodriguez, Adam Lallana, Luke Shaw and Nathaniel Clyne. Calum Chambers made his senior international debut not long after leaving Saints in 2014.

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Claudio Ranieri dismisses his perfect record against Claude Puel: It’s totally irrelevant

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HALT: Ranieri will be looking to end Southampton’s winning run

During his spell at French club Monaco, Ranieri went head-to-head with the then-Nice coach Puel on three occasions – and won every time.

But the Leicester chief, seemingly unaware of those perfect stats until yesterday, insists they will count for nothing at the King Power Stadium this afternoon.

Different league, different era was the gist of Ranieri’s short, sharp response to questions about his past duels with Saints boss Puel – and the possibility of bagging a quadruple.

The Italian, 64, who was in charge of Monaco from 2012 to 2014, said: “No, I don’t remember our record at all. I have forgotten it.

“This is a totally new life. So, it’s not important. Believe me when say I forget it all.”

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@SouthamptonFC - Southampton FC

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Watch the moments that mattered from #SaintsFCU18s’ defeat to their #NCFC counterparts yesterday: https://cards.twitter.com/cards/rh0us/2ajux

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#OnThisDay in 2010, two penalties from Rickie Lambert helped #SaintsFC see off #AFCB at St Mary’s: https://grabyo.com/g/v/0vwPZbnBltB

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Summary of non-mainstream articles: 02/10/2016 09:37:39

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The Ugly Inside News for Southampton

New content from (- The Ugly Inside News for Southampton)

| The Ugly Inside Video Channel ! Saints At Leicester Previews | The Ugly Inside TV take a look at this afternoons game with Premier League Champions Leicester City with a couple of … 02-10-2016 |
| Saints At Leicester City The Preview | Saints head to the East Midlands to take on Premier League champions Leicester City hoping to avenge last seasons … 02-10-2016 |

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Free live audio commentary and match updates from #SaintsFC’s clash with #LCFC can be found here: https://cards.twitter.com/cards/rh0us/2ak5w

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ARRIVALS: #lcfc come marching in as they prepare to face #SaintsFC today. #LeiSou

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U18 Highlights: Saints 0-1 Norwich City

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The scene is set! #saintsfc

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Summary of non-mainstream articles: 02/10/2016 11:38:32

| | Man United transfer news: Jose Mourinho forced to sell, before he can buy star defenderCAUGHTOFFSIDE |
| | News - Saints FC legend starts his latest fundraising challengeSPIREFM |

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We’ll be bringing you team news in 15 minutes’ time. How do you think #SaintsFC will line up this afternoon?

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