Arsenal : Cech; Bellerin, Gabriel, Koscielny, Monreal; Flamini, Ramsey, Ozil; Campbell, Alexis, Giroud.
Southampton : Forster; Cedric, Fonte, Van Dijk, Bertrand; Wanyama, Romeu; Ward-Prowse, Mane, Tadic; Long.
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Arsenal always make chances at home.
They should be able to score two goals against Southampton, although No.1 keeper Frazer Forster is now back between the sticks.
However, Saints coach Ronald Koeman is very good tactician who has outsmarted Wenger several times already.
And Saido Mane is an electric striker, very explosive and dangerous.
But if Arsenal flood midfield and dominate, Mane won’t get much service.
If they control Mane they’ll get three points.
Something tells me the positional radar of the unbeatable Cech will be vital from 7.45pm tonight.
I’m expecting Leicester to beat Liverpool 1-0.
Do the energetic scousers have the clinical shooting needed to do Arsenal a favour by beating Jamie Vardy & Co? Doubt it
Vardy has just signed an extended contract, as we all hoped he would.
But I could be wrong about both those games.
Been wrong many times before.
Apparently, Quique Sanchez Flores is a really nice guy.
A friend of a friend bumped into the Watford boss in a supermarket and said, “Can I have a picture? My husband is a huge Watford fan.”
The manager’s reaction to being accosted by a complete stranger? He immediately said, “You should be in the picture too!” and got a bystander to take it.
Today I read in the Evening Standard that Flores has been saying Pep can play the same way when he takes over Manchester City.
Flores said, “I was speaking with him three months ago and he asked me if I was happy in England. I told him I was happy because England is really nice. I detected that he wanted to come here.
“You know the way Pep likes to play football, keeping possession, defending high, this is Pep Guardiola. Normally he has the best players in the world in his team,so he can enjoy this experience. It is very difficult to play against Guardiola teams because it is very difficult to keep the ball.
“He is one of the best coaches in the last 10 years.The most important thing for Pep is to come here and show everyone that he can translate his methods and ideas to a completely different league. La Liga and the Bundesliga are completely different to the Premier League.
“The important thing for him is to come here and play the same way in the Premier League because that it what he has. He will sign good players and try to develop the same system, the same ideas.
“This League is very receptive to good managers. When you come here with good ideas, ambition and work hard, it adapts to good managers.
“He is thinking about football for 24 hours a day. When you go to a different country it is very important to know the style of that league. Right now he will be thinking about how he is going to manage in the Premier League. So his adaptation to the Premier League will be very easy.”
Flores coached Atletico Madrid and spoke to Pep about the Premier League at a UEFA coaching course last year : “He knows perfectly La Liga, he knows perfectly the Bundesliga and he wanted to know the Premier League.”