PREMIER LEAGUE LIVE: Follow Sunday's action from around the grounds as it happens
|
UPDATED:
14:51 GMT, 7 October 2012
Follow Sportsmail's coverage of the Barclays Premier League as four fixtures conclude the weekend's action starting with Southampton's home encounter with Fulham at 1.30pm. Liverpool host Stoke and Tottenham welcome Aston Villa at 3pm before Manchester United travel to Newcastle an hour later.
NEWCASTLE V MAN UNITED
Newcastle: Harper, Santon, Perch, Williamson, Ferguson, Ben Arfa, Tiote, Cabaye, Gutierrez, Cisse, Ba.
Subs: Alnwick, Simpson, Anita, Bigirimana, Obertan, Shola Ameobi, Sammy Ameobi.
Man Utd: De Gea, Da Silva, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra, Cleverley, Carrick, Welbeck, Rooney, Kagawa, van Persie.
Subs: Lindegaard, Valencia, Anderson, Giggs, Hernandez, Scholes, Wootton.
Referee: Howard Webb (S Yorkshire)
LIVERPOOL V STOKE
Liverpool: Reina, Wisdom, Skrtel, Agger, Johnson, Gerrard, Allen, Sahin, Fernandez Saez, Suarez, Sterling.
Subs: Jones, Henderson, Cole, Assaidi, Coates, Carragher, Borini.
Stoke: Begovic, Cameron, Huth, Shawcross, Wilson, Walters, Nzonzi, Whelan, Adam, Kightly, Crouch.
Subs: Sorensen, Jones, Edu, Whitehead, Upson, Etherington, Jerome.
Referee: Lee Mason (Lancashire)
TOTTENHAM V ASTON VILLA
Tottenham: Lloris, Walker, Gallas, Caulker, Vertonghen, Lennon, Dembele, Sandro, Bale, Defoe, Dempsey.
Subs: Friedel, Huddlestone, Adebayor, Dawson, Sigurdsson, Falque, Townsend.
Aston Villa: Guzan, Bennett, Vlaar, Clark, Lowton, Holman, El Ahmadi, Delph, Albrighton, Benteke, Agbonlahor.
Subs: Given, Bent, N'Zogbia, Westwood, Bannan, Weimann, Lichaj.
Referee: Neil Swarbrick (Lancashire)
15.50: Lloris hasn't been too busy except for rushing off his line well to make one stop and tipping Benteke's effort away from danger.
It looks like they'll need Darren Bent to come off the bench again to pose some sort of threat to Lloris' goal.
He's a former Spurs player and scored last week. I wonder why he was left on the bench in the first place for this one
15.48: HALF-TIME: TOTTENHAM 0 ASTON VILLA 0
15.47: HALF-TIME: LIVERPOOL 0 STOKE 0
15.45: We're seeing two minutes of added time at Anfield. It has been a battle and a half here.
I'm pretty sure referee Lee Mason will have some questions to answer after this first half. Shawcross should be off, simple as.
15.41: Spurs have just gone close with five minutes to go until half time. Joe Bennett is being terrorised by Aaron Lennon.
It looks like a matter of time until they break the deadlock.
15.37: Peter Crouch is odds on favourite to score first against his former club. It's a really heated affair. John Walters has just clattered into Johnson after a goal kick. It looked like a little bit of an elbow to be honest.
Both Shawcross and Walters are lucky to be on the pitch now.
15.34: Gerrard and Suarez are putting Stoke under some pressure. The Uruguayan finds his captain on the overlap but Gerrard belts the ball out for a goal kick. Much better from Liverpool after a shaky start in front of their own fans.
15.33: It's another booking in this feisty affair between Stoke City and Liverpool. Luis Suarez skins Robert Huth who brings him down with acres of space behind him.
Interesting decision because a red card wouldn't have been out of the question. Luckily for Huth and Stoke, it's only a yellow.
15.28: Friedel's stand-in has had little to do so far at White Hart Lane. It's all Spurs so far.
At Anfield, there's already been some controversy. Kightly has been booked and Ryan Shawcross appeared to have aimed a stamp at Luis Suarez.
15.25: FULL-TIME: SOUTHAMPTON 2 FULHAM 2
15.24: Liverpool are living dangerously now. They are under some serious pressure early on at home to Stoke.
15.21: What a response from the Saints. There's three of the five minutes of stoppage time to play. Can someone snatch a winner on the south coast
15.19: GOAL! SOUTHAMPTON 2 Fulham 2
Not so fast! Jose Fonte has scored his second goal and equalised for Southampton! Wonderful finish!
15.17: GOAL! Southampton 1 FULHAM 2
With 88 minutes gone, Richardson looks like he has won it for Fulham. He rifles in the late goal which could seal back-to-back away wins for his new club.
They were so poor in the first half too! A gam of two halves cliche would work right about now…
15.15: Here are the teams for Manchester United's visit to Newcastle:
Newcastle: Harper; Santon, Williamson, Perch, Ferguson; Ben Arfa, Cabaye, Tiote, Gutierrez (c); Ba, Cisse
Man Utd: De Gea; Rafael, Evans, Ferdinand, Evra; Rooney Carrick, Cleverley, Kagawa; Van Persie, Welbeck
15.11: With 10 minutes left at St Mary's, Chris Baird nails a free-kick from 25 yards out. But it's always rising. Goal kick.
Heated: The match between Liverpool and Stoke was a feist affair
SOUTHAMPTON 2 FULHAM 2
Southampton: Gazzaniga, Richardson (Hooiveld 8min), Yoshida, Fonte, Fox, Puncheon (Chaplow 61min), Schneiderlin, Steven Davis, Lallana, Rodriguez, Lambert (Do Prado 67min).
Subs not used: Kelvin Davis, Ward-Prowse, Mayuka, Reeves,
Goals: Fonte 4, 90
Fulham: Schwarzer, Riether, Hughes, Hangeland, Riise, Kacaniklic (Richardson 66min), Ruiz, Baird, Sidwell (Karagounis 72min), Duff, Rodallega.
Subs not used: Stockdale, Kelly, Senderos, Kasami, Briggs.
Goals: Hooiveld og 69, Richardson 88
Referee: Mark Clattenburg (Tyne & Wear)
15.07: Liverpool should be a goal down. Pepe Reina attempts an ill-advised one-two on the edge of the area with Nuri Sahin. The latter's ball is cut out and former Red Charlie Adam is through on goal.
Reina atones for his error and makes a desperate stop. Rodgers will be fuming at that display.
15.05: There's 15 minutes to go at St Mary's. This game could go either way. Neither look like they are ready to take the draw. They want to win this game!
15.02: Gareth Bale has dragged a shot wide at White Hart Lane. That came after the biggest cheer in north London so far comes when Hugo Lloris' name is read out on the teamsheet. Big, big, shoes to fill as he stands in for Friedel.
15.02: Surely Southampton could have done with Rickie Lambert up top to try to snatch a winner against Fulham. He looked disappointed to be taken off.
15.00: KICK-OFF: LIVERPOOL V STOKE AND TOTTENHAM V ASTON VILLA ARE UNDERWAY
14.59: GOAL! SOUTHAMPTON 1 FULHAM 1
Happy Andre Villas-Boas swapped Brad Friedel for Hugo Lloris at Spurs
It's been coming for Fulham, and they've finally got that breakthrough. Riise fires a shot towards the goal and Jos Hooiveld sticks a boot out and it goes into his own net.
The shot was going wide. That'll be an own goal.
14.56: At White Hart Lane and Anfield all four teams are lining up as we speak in the tunnel. A couple more games for us to follow.
Meanwhile, Do Prado comes on for Rickie Lambert. Shame to see him coming off, I'm sure the Southampton fans feel the same.
14.54: There's definitely another goal in this game. Neither seems content with the current scoreline. Southampton fancy another one and Fulham have to score if they want a point.
14.50: How did that not go in Fulham have turned up the pressure on Southampton and Sidwell goes close before Rodallega forces a wonderful save from Gazzaniga.
In the end Kacaniklic gives away a fould to relieve a bit of pressure for Nigel Adkins' men.
14.45: Both teams at St Mary's have turned up the tempo. Southampton want a second to kill the game off and Fulham know that time is against them if they want anything from this match.
Jay Rodriguez fires a rasping shot from outside the area, but Schwarzer is more than equal to it. Should be a good finish in this one.
14.43: At Anfield, Stewart Downing has been dropped after he responded by saying he was 'upset' and 'disappointed' by the public criticism he received from manager Brendan Rodgers.
14.41: Over at White Hart Lane, Brad Friedel is missing his first Premier League game since 2004. A remarkable record from a truly top class goalkeeper.
It had to end some time of course.14.38: That's the second booking for Southampton. Morgan Schneiderlin chops down Riise as he tries to make his way down the left. Cynical, but it prevented the break.
14.36: John Arne Riise is receiving treatment early on. He took a nasty-looking stud to the head from Puncheon.
It was in no way deliberate, as Puncheon merely sought to hurdle over his sliding opponent.
Riise's OK though, and he'll be fine to continue.
14.35: KICK-OFF: SOUTHAMPTON GET THE SECOND HALF UNDERWAY AT ST MARY'S
14.33: As promised, here's Aston Villa's starting line up: Guzan, Vlaar, Clark, El Ahmadi, Agbonlahor, Albrighton, Holman, Delph, Benteke, Bennett, Lowton
14.30: Here's the full Spurs team: Lloris, Walker, Gallas, Caulker, Vertonghen, Dembele, Sandro, Lennon, Bale, Dempsey, Defoe
Stay tuned for the Villa line up.
14.26: Although I don't yet have the full Tottenham and Aston Villa teams, I can confirm that Brad Friedel's 310-game Premier League run has come to an end.
Hugo Lloris will deputise between the sticks in favour of the veteran goalkeeper. More team news to follow.
14.23: May I digress for a moment The Liverpool and Stoke teams have dropped. Here they are:
Come here: Jason Puncheon is pursued by Steve Sidwell
Liverpool: Reina, Wisdom, Skrtel, Agger, Johnson, Gerrard, Allen, Sahin, Fernandez Saez, Suarez, Sterling.
Subs: Jones, Henderson, Cole, Assaidi, Coates, Carragher, Borini.
Stoke: Begovic, Cameron, Huth, Shawcross, Wilson, Walters, Nzonzi, Whelan, Adam, Kightly, Crouch.
Subs: Sorensen, Jones, Edu, Whitehead, Upson, Etherington, Jerome.
Referee: Lee Mason (Lancashire)
14.21: Apart from that late chance for Rodallega, Southampton have looked the far better side. In fact, they could have capitalised further on the slack Fulham play. At times it seemed like the visitors didn't want possession of the ball.
That said, there's only a goal in this one, and the second half could throw anything up.
14.18: HALF-TIME: SOUTHAMPTON 1 FULHAM 0
14.17: Shocking defending allows Rodallega a chance, but he can't get a toe on it to send the ball past Gazzaniga.
Jos Hooiveld completely misjudges a long ball and Rodallega is clean through. He raises his boot to get a touch on the bouncing ball, but it goes out for a goal kick.
14.15: But they'll have to wait a little longer. We've got four minutes added time after the injury to Richardson earlier on.
Fulham get a rare attempt on goal. As Aaron Hughes meets a corner and heads straight into the hands of Gazzaniga.
14.14: Things have settled down now. Just a minute of normal time to go before the half is up. Both these teams look ready for the break.
14.10: Should've been 2-0! Rickie Lambert is in acres of space on the left side of the area. He lines up his shot and powers the ball into Schwarzer's body.
A good save, but Lambert will be disappointed he didn't stick that one across goal into the far corner.
14.08: We're fast approaching half-time now. Martin Jol will want to get his team into the dressing room at this rate.
They have been really poor for the first 40 minutes. If Southampton were more clinical, they could have been a couple of goals up by now. Fulham have given the ball away in dangerous areas consistently.
14.05: That's really poor football. This time it's from the Southampton goalkeeper Gazzaniga. He casually boots the ball out for a throw-in when looking for Danny Fox on the left. What's going on! Neither side can keep the thing!
14.03: It's Schwarzer now who gives the ball straight to Southampton.
Lambert picks out Lallana who squares back in the area, looking for the return. The ball rolls agonisingly across the box. Fulham are luckt to be only the one goal down.
14.02: Fulham get a real let off there. Riise takes a shocking throw-in which is cut out by Lallana.
Luckily for the Norwegian, Lallana's headed interception is in turn cut out. Real school boy stuff from the left-back. He would have left his defence flat-footed and outnumbered if Lallana's touch was better.
It's mine! Aaron Hughes battles with Rickie Lambert for the ball
14.00: Fulham are looking short of ideas now. A shocking ball from Hangeland just hands possession back to the Saints. They'll have to do much better than that if they are to turn this around.
13.56: Southampton are breaking really well. Every time it looks like Fulham are settling into the game, the hosts get the ball and are up the pitch in an instant.
Lallana looks very good in midfield. Fulham need Sidwell to keep him a little quieter because he is pulling the strings.
13.52: GOAL DISALLOWED! The home fans are cheering again, but it's not going to stand.
Puncheon gives Schwarzer a nudge as the corner comes in, sending him to the floor. The ball eventually comes to Puncheon who puts the ball in.
Excellent spot by Clattenburg. That was a foul.
13.51: Southampton break very well. Lallana drifts into the centre and picks out Lambert with a cute reverse pass.
Lambert finds Fox who wins the corner.
13.49: Fulham look to strike back. Duff cuts in on the right and puts a lovely ball in. Rodallega can't direct his header goalwards though.
13.47: Huge chance for Lambert to double the lead. Excellent move which sees Rodriguez latch on to a through ball.
Rather than shoot, he finds the usually deadly Lambert. The Englishman skews his effort and the ball trickles out of play. He should have at least worked Schwarzer there.
13.45: Fulham are growing into this game finally. Kacaniklic does well on the left and earns his side a corner.
Is it in Jose Fonte opens the scoring for Southampton
Rickie Lambert wheels away after his team-mate got the first goal of the day
The ball's a good one but Hangeland can't get it under control quick enough.
13.41: Now Lallana is on the deck. Steve Sidwell caught him with a flailing arm in the face.
It looked accidental though, and Lallana is on his feet again. All's well that ends well!
Funnily enough, Sidwell was the one who put Rodriguez on the floor with a late challenge moments earlier.
13.40: Big chance for Fulham. Bryan Ruiz takes a free-kick into the box. The ball finds its way through to Aaron Hughes who is in acres at the far post.
The defender fails to bring it under his control and the threat diffuses. A better first touch and he would have had the goal at his mercy.
13.38: Play's back underway now after an unsettling start for Fulham. They need to wake up!
The home crowd are unhappy as the visitors carry on regardless despite Rodriguez being on the deck, apparently injured.
13.36: They are brought back down to earth though, as Richardson is lifted onto a stretcher. Really unlucky as he seemed to pull up with a muscle injury.
Southampton make the change. Jos Hooiveld comes on for the defender.
13.34: GOAL! SOUTHAMPTON 1 Fulham 0
Adam Lallana puts the corner in and Jose Fonte is the first to it. He heads in the general direction of the far post and the ball just loops into the net. Fulham had no one on the line to stop it! What a start for the Saints.
13.33: Danny Fox has another opportunity from a set piece. He swings one in and wins another corner.
13.31: The first spell of pressure comes from Southampton. They have won a corner after Hangeland is forced to head a ball behind.
Fox carves out a half-chance for Rickie Lambert. The angle's tight at the far post and Lambert can't get it back across the face of the goal.
13.30: KICK-OFF! FULHAM GET THE GAME UNDERWAY
13.27: Southampton are lining up in their red kit today and Fulham walk onto the pitch in black with a gold and white sash. Three minutes to KO!
13.25: With the chit chat almost all done, the teams are about to come out and get the customary handshakes out of the way before the real action commences.
13.15: Fulham have struggled away from home so far this season, and it's often been their Achilles heel. They have lost to West Ham and Manchester United so far this campaign.
But they are looking for back-to-back away wins for the first time this season. Let's see how this one pans out…
13.07: Rickie Lambert will be trying to beat Fulham goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, who turned 40 yesterday.
Lambert, like the club, has battled his way through the divisions and has shown he is worthy of his place in the Premier League by scoring four goals in six in the top-flight.
13.05: Southampton have not struggled for goals this season. They scored two at the Etihad against City and smashed four past Aston Villa at home.
But it's at the back where they need to shore things up if they are to survive in the top-flight.
They will take solace from the fact that there's no Petric or berbatov starting for Fulham, but Hugo Rodallega is no chump. The former Wigan man will be hoping to sink the Saints.
12.55: And as I type the starting line ups are trickling in. Feast your eyes on these:
Southampton starting XI: Gazzaniga; Richardson, Fonte, Yoshida, Fox; Puncheon, Davis, Schneiderlin, Lallana; Lambert, Rodriguez
Fulham starting XI: Schwarzer, Riether, Hughes, Hangeland, Riise, Duff, Baird, Sidwell, Kacaniklic, Ruiz, Rodallega
Main man: Rickie Lambert (right) will lead the line up top for Southampton
12.50: Let's tackle some team news then for the early kick-off. Fulham could have some problems up top. Dimitar Berbatov looks set to miss the game, and Mladen Petric is also struggling with a calf problem.
Southampton on the other hand seem to have a full squad to pick from. Adkins is likely to welcome back Morgan Schneiderlin and Jos Hooiveld into his side.
12.45: Tottenham are flying high – despite their shock draw in Greece this week. They outclassed United at Old Trafford, a ground where they had previously failed to record a win since 1989.
Gareth Bale, Mousa Dembele and Co await an Aston Villa side who had to wait for Darren bent to come off the bench to rescue a point in their Midlands derby against West Brom last week.
12.40: At 15.00 we've got two games. Tottenham host Aston Villa and Liverpool welcome Stoke. Both home sides had unfavourable Europa League results as Liverpool fell to a 3-2 loss at home to Udinese and Tottenham drew 1-1 with a poor Panathinaikos outfit on Thursday.
Brendan Rodgers is still looking for his first home win in the Premier League with his Reds side. Tony Pulis will have other plans though, and will be hoping former Liverpool striker Peter Crouch can continue his goal glut on Merseyside.
12.35: But United and Newcastle aren't playing until 16.00. First up we're at St Mary's as Fulham travel to the south coast.
Best pairing in Britain Wayne Rooney (right) and Robin van Persie (left) are likely to pair up at Newcastle
Nigel Adkins' side have won only one of their first six games – losing the other five – and, frankly, look like early candidates for relegation.
The Saints boss is hoping his side's home form can help tip the balance in their favour, especially after a convincing 4-1 win over Aston Villa.
Fulham are hoping to bounce back after losing in the final moments against Manchester City last week. They'll be kicking off at 13.30, with teams on the way shortly.
12.30: Welcome, welcome, welcome. Stick with us here at Sportsmail as we guide you through all this afternoon's action.
It's an uncharacteristically busy Sunday given the Europa League action in midweek, and the blockbuster of the day is undoubtedly Manchester United's trip to Newcastle. In last season's corresponding fixture, United slumped to a 3-0 defeat with help from an unplayable Demba Ba.
Interestingly, that defeat followed their 3-2 home loss to Blackburn the week before. What did Sir Alex Ferguson's men do last week again.. Oh yes, I remember. They lost 3-2 at home to Tottenham.
But let's not get carried away with ourselves. Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie are set to start up top for Fergie, and with Rooney setting up his Dutch team-mate for two goals in midweek against FC Cluj, they'll be keen to develop that relationship further. Should be a cracker.
Action packed: Southampton (left) start the day followed by Liverpool, Tottenham and Manchester United
