The Premier League fixtures calendar always seems to have a peculiar trait of producing a very timely and intriguing game right after a club is involved in a sticky situation. That example today is Southampton, who seemingly were fortunate to hold on to Mauricio Pochettino’s services until the end of the season despite the club chairman resigning earlier this week. Now Southampton is featured in the early kick-off, where the cameras will be on them to see how they perform — and whether the team will play any differently after a tricky week off the pitch.
Plus of course there are plenty of other fascinating matches today.
Starting line-ups:
Liverpool: Mignolet, Johnson, Cissokho, Skrtel, Toure, Gerrard, Henderson, Sterling, Coutinho, Sturridge, Suarez
Subs: Jones, Kelly, Lucas, Moses, Allen, Aspas, Alberto
Aston Villa: Guzan, Bacuna, Vlaar, Clark, Bertrand, El Ahmadi, Westwood, Delph, Agbonlahor, Weimann, Benteke
Subs: Steer, Sylla, Helenius, Albrighton, Luna, Gardner, Holt
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Arsenal: Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Flamini, Wilshere, Cazorla, Gnabry, Ozil, Giroud
Subs: Fabianski, Jenkinson, Gibbs, Rosicky, Podolski, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ju-Young Park
Fulham: Stekelenburg; Riether, Burn, Hangeland, Richardson; Dejagah, Sidwell, Parker, Kacaniklic; Dempsey, Berbatov
Subs: Stockdale, Riise, Kasami, Karagounis, Duff, Hughes and Bent
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Crystal Palace: Speroni, Mariappa, Gabbidon, Delaney, Parr, Bolasie, Ward, Jedinak, Puncheon, Guedioura, Chamakh.
Subs: Price, Moxey, O’Keefe, Williams, Bannan, Wilbraham, Gayle.
Stoke: Butland, Cameron, Shawcross, Wilson, Pieters, Whelan, Nzonzi, Adam, Walters, Assaidi, Crouch.
Subs: Sorensen, Muniesa, Shotton, Palacios, Ireland, Arnautovic, Guidetti.
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Manchester City: Hart, Zabaleta, Kompany (c), Demichelis, Kolarov, Navas, Yaya Toure, Javi Garcia, Silva, Negredo, Dzeko
Subs: Pantilimon, Lescott, Nastasic, Clichy, Fernandinho, Milner, Aguero
Cardiff: Marshall; McNaughton, Caulker (C), Turner, Theophile-Catherine; Whittingham, Medel, Gunnarsson, Mutch, Noone; Campbell.
Subs: Lewis; Hudson, Odemwingie, Kim, Eikrem, Bellamy, John
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Norwich: Ruddy; Martin, R Bennett, Bassong (c), Olsson; Snodgrass, Fer, Johnson, Gutierrez; van Wolfswinkel, Hooper
Subs: Bunn (GK), Whittaker, Pilkington, Hoolahan, Becchio, Redmond, Tettey
Hull: McGregor, Rosenior, Bruce, Chester, Davies, Huddlestone, Koren, Livermore, Jelavic, Sagbo, Elmohamady
Subs: Harper, Figueroa, Meyler, Fryatt, Boyd, Faye, Quinn
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West Ham: Adrian, Jarvis, Rat, Collison, Taylor, Noble (c), Collins, Diame, Downing, C.Cole, Johnson
Subs: Jaaskelainen, Carroll, Maiga, Morrison, Diarra, J.Cole, Chambers
Newcastle: Krul; Santon, Williamson, S.Taylor, Yanga-Mbiwa; Tiote (c), Anita, Cabaye; Sissoko, Remy, Gouffran
Subs: Elliot, Haidara, Dummett, Obertan, Ben Arfa, Shola Ameobi, Cisse
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Here’s today’s TV/Internet schedule for soccer fans in the United States:
Sunderland vs Southampton, 7:45am, NBCSN
Arsenal vs Fulham, 10am, NBCSN
Crystal Palace vs Stoke, 10am, Premier League Extra Time
Manchester City vs Cardiff, 10am, Premier League Extra Time
Norwich vs Hull, 10am, Premier League Extra Time
West Ham United vs Newcastle, 10am, Premier League Extra Time
Liverpool vs Aston Villa, 12:30pm, NBC
Before, during or after today’s matches, join the conversation in the comments section below with fellow soccer fans from around the world.
Have a wonderful Saturday.
