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Liverpool won the FA Cup for the eighth time on Saturday, topping Chelsea FC in penalties. With a quick turnaround, they travel to Southampton in a must-win Premier League match. Southampton sit 15th in the table and are looking to play spoiler.
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Liverpool won the FA Cup on Saturday, via penalties, earning their second trophy of the season. Now they have to turn around, very quickly, to face Southampton in the Premier League.
Southampton last played May 7, when they lost to Brentford 3-0, so they’ll be much better rested. There is likely to be some rotation on Tuesday for the Reds, who suffered a couple of injuries and had to play 120 minutes on the weekend.
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Asked if he had a message for Southampton FC, in his post-match press conference today following his side’s 2-2 draw with West Ham United, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola responded: “Yes, I would say, beat Liverpool four-zero!”
Yes, the Premier League title race is still not totally settled as City dropped two points today, meaning Liverpool can creep back to within 1 point with a win Tuesday night. Of course, City would still clinch the league with a home win on Championship Sunday, regardless of what Liverpool do. [Read more…]
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The Gunners and the Saints clash at St. Mary’s Stadium this weekend in the Premier League in the traditional 3 pm timeslot.
The fixture kicks off a run of hugely significant fixtures for Arsenal over the next seven days, beginning with the aforementioned clash with Southampton. It is closely followed by a huge London derby just a few days later before they take on Manchester United in the early kick-off next Saturday. It is not hyperbole to say that the Gunners’ season will be riding on the results of these next three fixtures.
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Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel was very blunt in assessing his own team last night, during the aftermath of their 3-1 loss at Real Madrid.
“What I saw from us at Stamford Bridge, we can’t play at this kind of level,” Tuchel said. “By far not enough. Far, far, far from our standards. … The intensity and challenges, the desire, how we close spaces. The first half was so far from any standard we set for ourselves that we cannot complain.”
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It’s been an awful time for Blues boss Thomas Tuchel, on multiple levels, lately. The day after his Chelsea side was unexpectedly thrashed at home, at the hands of Premier League newbies Brentford, his impending divorce became public. His wife of 13 years, German newspaper journalist Sisi Tuchel, had filed the papers the previous week.
Then came Wednesday night, where his team was once again dominated, at home, but this time in the Champions League. Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema achieved a hat trick on Chelsea, and in the post-match presser, Tuchel let loose.
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Southampton FC rarely ever gets a result against the Manchester City of Pep Guardiola, but when they do it is indeed epic. As I amazingly (read: just total luck) called back on January 22, City’s historical Premier League winning streak was going to come to an end at the hands of Saints. The south coast club did indeed accomplish that, stalemating the Man City juggernaut to a score draw. Can they upset the balance again here on Sunday?
Or will we see the favored big money club move on to the FA Cup Final Four? Let’s preview!
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Southampton will welcome West Ham United to the south coast in the next round of the FA Cup. Victory for the Saints will see them qualify for back-to-back quarter-finals in the competition for the first time in over 115 years.
Standing in their way is David Moyes’s West Ham outfit. This season, the Hammers have seemed like world-beaters at different times. They’ve spent a lot of time occupying a top-four spot this season. An unlikely Champions League place seemed like a distinct possibility. Unfortunately for the Irons, a poor run of form combined with a devastating injury crisis has put their top-four dreams out of reach.
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West Ham will face Southampton at St. Mary’s Stadium in the fifth round of the FA Cup. This will be the third time the two sides have faced each other this season. Even though the Hammers are flying high this season, a loss to the Saints will see them not only eliminated from the FA Cup but with a 1D 2L record against Ralph Hasenhüttl’s men in the 2021/22 season.
Despite being winless against the Saints in the league, it is interesting to note Southampton has not defeated West Ham in the FA Cup in their history. The Hammers have a fine W3 D3 record against this round’s opponent.
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Tottenham and Southampton clash in the Premier League in the mid-week set of fixtures. Incredibly, this is Tottenham’s first home league game of 2022. The last time they strutted their stuff in front of their home fans was in a 3-0 demolition of Crystal Palace on Boxing Day.
This isn’t the longest they have made the Spurts faithful wait to see their side play at home in a New Year. Incredibly, in 1985, they didn’t play at home in the league until March. Securing the signature of manager Antonio Conte was an astute piece of business from Spurs supremo Daniel Levy. Even if it took a little longer than it should have.
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Chelsea FC, fresh off their narrow escape over Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup yesterday, will now face Luton Town in the next round. For the Blues, they’ll step up in class a bit for the fifth round as now they’ll face an opponent from the Championship division (second tier of English football), having just vanquished opposition from League One (third tier).
Of course, there is a plenty of other football to be played, as Chelsea are now bound for the Club World Cup (tourney preview material here)
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Ralph Hasenhüttl will have had some sleepless nights this week. The Austrian head coach of Southampton faces the daunting challenge of welcoming the all-conquering Manchester City to St. Marys Stadium this weekend. Both sides find themselves amid some suitable form. Southampton has a proud 7 match undefeated run at St Mary’s.
That undefeated run faces its sternest test yet when they take on a Manchester City side who has won their last twelve games in a row. The last time City suffered defeat, it was Halloween. They have slaughtered all that has come before them since then.
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