If you're Manchester United, dragging off Phil Jones at half-time and letting Thiago stroll around like he's on holiday, it's not looking good. Best of luck, Erik ten Hag!

Jules, Vish and Lars look over United's capitulation at Anfield and celebrate Fulham's inevitable promotion. Lars also gives us his thoughts on the Erling Haaland rumours and how he might fit in at Manchester City.

Tweet us @FootballRamble and email us here: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Plus, you can now find us on TikTok! Just search 'Football Ramble'.

***Please take the time to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your pods. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!***

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Kate, Pete and Vish recap a chaotic afternoon in the EFL which saw Derby County finally relegated from the Championship. We give deserved props to Wayne Rooney and the squad, before asking where the club goes from here.

We also inadvertently start a ball boy revolution, celebrate some good times at St James’ Park and decide every goal is indeed a hit and hope.

Tweet us @FootballRamble and email us here: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Plus, you can now find us on TikTok! Just search 'Football Ramble'.

***Please take the time to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your pods. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!***

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

What a weekend of cup football! Man City laid out the red carpet for Liverpool to moonwalk all over, while Kai Havertz escaped Wembley prison rules with his own ticket to the final. 

Elsewhere, hands across Glasgow and Edinburgh served up two cracking Scottish cup semis, while the battle for the Premier League top four takes another bizarre turn.

Tweet us @FootballRamble and email us here: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Plus, you can now find us on TikTok! Just search 'Football Ramble'.

***Please take the time to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your pods. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!***

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Owen Hargreaves has claimed that Tottenham should be able to seal the fourth and final Champions League spot for next season after Arsenal failed to beat Southampton today.

The Gunners had the chance to draw level with Spurs on 57 points with a win today after seeing them lose to Brighton in the early-afternoon, but once again we failed to bring home the points.

It was the Saints first win in seven matches, and leaves us with slim hopes of climbing back inside the top four, and looking ahead to our next matches we have plenty to be alarmed about.

Owen Hargreaves has taken that all in to name Tottenham as the side who are most likely to claim fourth after seeing the latest performances, with our upcoming fixtures definitely a big task.

‘Fixture-wise, it’s tough for Arsenal,’ he said on Premier League Productions(via the Metro). ‘They struggled against Crystal Palace, Brighton and Southampton.

Arsenal lost yet another game this afternoon to leave their hopes of a top-four finish in on tenterhooks, and youngster Sambi Lokonga has urged his team-mates to step-up.

The Gunners could take the easy excuse and blame the fact that they are missing some key players since the international break, with Thomas Partey and Kieran Tierney no longer expected to play a part in the remainder of our campaign, and with Takehiro Tomiyasu having been missing for almost the entirety of 2022 thus far.

Our form has dropped off a cliff since the international break however, which could be down to those absences aforementioned, but at this point in the campaign there is zero room for error as we drift away from the Champions League places, and Lokonga has urged his team-mates to step up and make sure we ‘don’t feel like’ those injured players are missing.

Lokonga told Arsenal Media: “We know the plan, we know what we have to do, of course, [some of] the main players are missing but yeah, we need to give our best so we don’t feel they’re missing.

“We need to believe, I think that’s the first thing. We need to stick together. We’ve been through this so we can do it again.”

Mikel Arteta has claimed that having watched the game you would have seen that ‘Arsenal won the game’ despite the resulting proving to be different.

The Gunners had the chance to draw level with Tottenham after they folded against Brighton earlier on today, but we couldn’t take it.

We looked the better team, and while we had a number of clear-cut chances to break the deadlock in the opening 45 minutes, Fraser Forster was equal to our efforts, and we ended up going into the break behind.

We still tried to push on in search of the equaliser after the break, but Southampton were forcing us to to keep our distance from goal, packing out their back line in order to limit us to try something special, and we just couldn’t find it.

While the manager admits that it was a ‘huge’ opportunity which was missed this afternoon, he feels even worse given that he believes his side should have won the game.

Southampton have beaten Arsenal by a 1-0 score-line this afternoon, leaving pure disappointment on the faces of our fans.

The Gunners went into today’s match knowing that we needed to take advantage of Tottenham’s failure to beat Brighton earlier on today, but once again we leave disappointed.

Despite being winless in their last six matches, they put in a solid display of focus and used their more experienced players to get the better of a tactical game, although it wasn’t always destined to go that way.

Fraser Forster put in a number of saves in the first-half which he had no right to get to, with Bukayo Saka’s close-range effort one that is stuck in my mind, although the youngster should have done much better to find either of the low corners of the goal instead of hitting it towards the centre of the goal.

We were punished right before half-time at a point in the game where we had been looking dangerous, and they came out after the break with a purpose. For the majority of the second-half, while our players were trying to scrap, they couldn’t get close enough to the goal, and Forster isn’t the type of goalkeeper to be beaten from range.

Arsenal have been punished by Southampton who take the lead just before half-time to pile more misery on our side.

We should have had the bit between our teeth after seeing Tottenham lose to Brighton and gift us the opportunity to close in on fourth spot in the table, but despite our efforts, we go into the break behind.

It was Bednarek who found himself in the box to finish up, after we failed to clear the corner before it was fired in behind our defence once more, but it was hit with some power to beat goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale.

Pictures courtesy of Dazn

There is still another half to get the win here, with our team having had a number of chances to go ahead already, and we will need to be focused being more clinical after the break

Alexandre Lacazette has been missing from training in recent days, and was also a notable absentee from today’s playing squad to take on Southampton, and Arsenal have finally explained why.

Manager Mikel Arteta refused to explain any reasoning for his striker’s absence when speaking to the press on Friday, claiming that he was hopeful that he would be available today to take on the Saints at St Mary’s, but it has now been revealed that he has in fact tested positive for Covid-19.

Alex Lacazette misses out on today's matchday squad after testing positive for Covid.

Wishing you all the best, @LacazetteAlex

— Arsenal (@Arsenal) April 16, 2022

The teams are out for this afternoon’s Premier League clash at St Mary’s Stadium, with this Arsenal side set to take on Southampton.

Neither side comes into today’s outing in the best of form, with the Gunners losing both of their last two while the home side are winless in six, coincidentally conceding six in their last fixture also.

While you would think that the Gunners would be confident of a result with all things considered, there is key injury absentees as well as some disappointing performances which will be stuck in their mind, and you would hope that this team will give us the impetus to start the match brightly and look to assert things here today.

TEAM NEWS!

Tavares returns to the XI
Odegaard captains the side
Nketiah starts up front#SOUARS

Arsenal will go to Southampton today in desperate need of a win, with their Champions League hopes having crashed in recent weeks.

The Gunners were favourites to close in on a top-four finish during the international break, but after losing to both Crystal Palace and Brighton they are now clawing to such hopes.

Tottenham have taken full advantage of our slip to forge ahead of us in the table, and will hopefully drop points against the Seagulls (I’m not holding my breath) to open the door for us to close the gap on our rivals.

Regardless of their result however, the pressure will be on us to keep our dream alive, with us still having every chance of reaching the Champions League, assuming we can get back to form as well as beat our noisy neighbours later in the campaign.

There is little point in looking ahead to other fixtures if we cannot get that ball rolling again by returning to winning ways in Hampshire, and that will not come easy. We have conceded five goals in our last two outings, with our side seemingly struggling to deal with our key injury absences, and an away trip to Southampton is far from an easy task.

Every Arsenal fan in the world is well aware that Eddie Nketiah will be leaving us on a free transfer this summer, along with Alexandre Lacazette, and the Gunners would be even more short of strikers than ever before.

But right now, with Lacazette expected to miss the trip to Southampton today, I simply cannot see that Mikel Arteta has any choice except to play our misfiring youngster.

Although us fans don’t rate him for his goalscoring record over the last few years, the fact is that he is only ever used as a substitute when Arteta is ready to bring smeone off (usually Lacazette who rarely lasts 90 minutes either). In fact, against Brighton, Nketiah played for a whole 28 minutes, which is the longest time he has been on the pith for Arsenal this year!

It must also be noted that, although he hasn’t scored this year, Nketiah has hit the post or the bar in his last few games, so you could say that he is getting closer. Maybe with a full 90 minutes under his belt he may just put the ball in the back of the net.

There is also the problem that Arteta simply has no one else that could play up front anyway, unless he shocks us all by giving Pepe a starting spot.

Arsenal will go to the St Mary’s Stadium to take on Southampton today with three key players missing, while Alexandre Lacazette’s availability remains unknown.

The Frenchman missed training on Friday for an unknown reason, with manager Mikel Arteta claiming that he couldn’t divulge the information. It seemed like it was more personal for Laca as opposed to footballing or fitness issues.

We remain without Kieran Tierney, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Thomas Partey this weekend. The latter now appears set to miss the remainder of the season despite Arteta claiming that he is working hard to try and make a return beforehand. The Scot is also expected to remain sidelined until pre-season, while we continue to wait on the Japan international. He’s only featured twice in 2022 thus far having agitated another injury amidst his initial recovery, but is believed to be close to being made available once again.

Predicted Arsenal XI:

Ramsdale
Cedric White Gabriel Xhaka
Odegaard Lokonga Smith Rowe
Martinelli Laca Saka

West Ham gave Brassell’s Lyon a battering last night! And Stanley Tucci couldn’t do a thing about it. 

Marcus, Luke and Andy discuss a bustling night of European football on today’s Preview Show, sponsored by Betway! The Ferryman’s European tour continues and Rangers almost manage - in the words of the great Terry Brown - to stab themselves in the foot.

Elsewhere, a huge weekend beckons for Crystal Palace and we react to the day’s big news: Sean Dyche is gone!

Tweet us @FootballRamble and email us here: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Plus, you can now find us on TikTok! Just search 'Football Ramble'.

***Please take the time to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your pods. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!***

A message to all commentators who solemnly declare fans don’t like to see scraps on a football pitch: we absolutely do like to see it.

Kate, Vish and Andy are ringside for City’s rope-a-dope, as we ask why Atlético continually insist on playing the shithouse hits. We also tip the hat to an entertaining one at Anfield, hear from Granit Xhaka about his relationship with Arsenal fans and look ahead to this week’s true title fight: José Mourinho vs Bodø/Glimt.

Tweet us @FootballRamble and email us here: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Plus, you can now find us on TikTok! Just search 'Football Ramble'.

***Please take the time to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your pods. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!***

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Hard luck, Chelsea fans - King Carlo and the old guard were back for one last grift. Rio Ferdinand's certain it was illegal.

Marcus, Vish and Pete are here after a vintage European evening, as Bayern became the latest high-profile victim of The Unai Emery Experience. We also offer Pep Talks advice to a listener ahead of an outrageous job interview and catch up with some elite managerial shithousery in Spain.

Tweet us @FootballRamble and email us here: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Plus, you can now find us on TikTok! Just search 'Football Ramble'.

***Please take the time to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your pods. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!***

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Marcus, Luke and Lars check in with the Conte Revolution at Tottenham and look over Luton’s incredible rise as they push for a historic promotion. 

Elsewhere, Nasser Al-Khelaifi wants Childish Gambino at BATE Borisov while Thomas Tuchel thinks tonight’s Champions League tie is dead - for now. Ominous stuff!

Tweet us @FootballRamble and email us here: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Plus, you can now find us on TikTok! Just search 'Football Ramble'.

***Please take the time to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your pods. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!***

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.