The arrival of Manchester City at St Mary's highlights everything that is wrong with the Premier League and how if things are not sorted out soon , it will become a League for the armchair fan and tourist.

I cannot see much hope in the game against Manchester City this evening on two counts, firstly for Saints chances of getting even a point out of the game and secondly for the game in England in general.

In the respect of the latter the Premier League is becoming more polarised virtually by the week, with the have nots not just content with spending big, but also blatantly ignoring the rules that apply to clubs that they breach without a single thought.

This leaves me losing interest in the Premier League and the situation where clubs like Saints are merely cannon fodder in games such as these and almost feel grateful for a defeat by 4 goals.

That is the situation going into this game, most Saints fans will go to St Mary's just hoping that this is merely a defeat and not a rout, we have to sit back and hope our rivals down the bottom don't gain ground on us.

This is a situation that is played out amongst the fans of 13 other clubs in the Premier League and the greed of the so called big 7 is killing the game in England.

In the meantime we have to take on Manchester City without our leading scorer and also arguably our two best central defenders in Mohammed Salisu & Armel Bella Kotchap.

Kotchap looks unlikely to play with his shoulder injury whilst Salisu strangely has an injury, but no one seems to be saying what it is.

That leaves Ruben Selles having to mend and make do in the back four.

Personally I would play a back line of Maitland-Niles at right back, Bednarek & Caleta-Car in the centre and Walker Peters on the left.

We need pace and we haven't go it in the centre so we need to have it on the flanks and I feel Maitland-Niles has more of it than Romain Perraud.

After that we have to dig in and defend and just pray that sitting back suits us better than it does when teams do that to us.

We will be chasing shadows and although some Saints fans might take a bizarre pleasure in watching City's high earners running rings around us and will appreciate the football, I won't be one of them.

Perhaps these will be one of those great days at St Mary's that we sometimes have, when a big club comes and is humbled, but the truth is that is happening less and less in the Premier League, City come knowing the Premier League title is slipping away from them, they cannot afford anymore slip ups.

There is no point in this game getting toxic in the stands, we are putting out the bare bones in defence we are facing a side that is better than us in all respects, indeed City could probably put out a second XI who could beat us comfortably, that is why football is dying for those who actually go to watch their clubs and the game is now all about money and that means TV rights sold across the World.

Fingers crossed for this evening, that is about all we can do, yes we beat City in the Carabao Cup, but they say lighting doesn't strike twice.

Photo: Action Images

A1079 added 08:58 - Apr 8 Agree with all of that Nick. There was a time (a few decades ago now) when any team could reasonably compete even though you knew who the big boys were. Games like today feel almost meaningless which they shouldn't be. It doesn't help that we are languishing at the bottom so you realistically feel no hope and I half expect to be surrounded by "tourist fans" or opposition fans. In some respects our own club has not helped this. I have given up on this season anyway, so for what is left of the season I am going almost out of duty rather than with any sense of expectation or excitement.

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Colburn added 09:33 - Apr 8 Agreed.. A shocking situation of the elite cheating, but that just sums up the way of the world.. As with Toney, who continues to play and be selected for the England squad with over 200 offences charged against him. The game is being ruined by corruption in my opinion and perhaps its always been there, it's just no longer hidden. As for the game, I also see little hope of getting anything other than a comfortable defeat but even if City went down to 9 men, we wouldn't seize the moment, like at Old Trafford and even west ham first half last week. This is the reason we are where we are, a lack of nous at important points in games and through the season. My only hope is that Walcott and Elyonoussi get knocks and we have to play with Sulemana, Alcaraz, Mara, Onuachu, Adams and Edozie as our attacking force. They are the ones who have shown that they carry most threat to the opposition.

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saintpete01 added 10:16 - Apr 8 Colburn your Team selection is what all fans have been Crying out for to play from the start let’s hope Selles Does the right selection Let’s not hang our Boots up yet As someone once said Football it’s a funny old game
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Flamingbankers added 10:47 - Apr 8 Nick is unusually pessimistic but rightly so. I wish the Money clubs would have their own league and leave the rest of us our to own league. A limit on money you can spend and a ban on horrific, fascistic regimes owning football clubs or sports clubs. Let's have competitive football again where you all , more or less, have a chance against the team you're playing or of winning something. To add to that I think VAR has simply added another bias in favour of the bigger teams. It's all about big money whilst the FA and authorities couldn't give a damn about the others. It's us, the fans, that keep football alive not the charlatans and riggers. Time to reform football and sport because it's riddled with corruption and injustice. Sport should be about fair competition, especially as entertainment, without that it's no longer entertainment.

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SanMarco added 10:57 - Apr 8 "This leaves me losing interest in the Premier League" - sorry - I can't resist saying that that is probably just as well!! I agree with Nick in all he says - top level football is now corrupt big money at its worst. As for the match - we had a miracle in the cup match and that removes the hope that Abu Dhabi won't 'take us seriously'. I suppose lightning can strike twice - we need it to...

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highfield49 added 11:13 - Apr 8 I'm hoping, but not expecting, that Onuachu and Orsic are playing up front today. It they aren't then what on earth was the point in recruiting them a few weeks ago? No matter which players are selected they have to to give 90+ minutes of total effort and commitment because there surely can't be one paying supporter who will accept capitulation from the kick off. As for your rage against the corrupt funding system Nick I have to agree with your sentiment but when Chelsea and Liverpool are unlikely to be playing in Europe next season Brighton, Fulham and Brentford are competing. Surely we should be asking why SFC isn't in that mix or are we just expecting that their teams will be depleted by the lure of summer transfers to the wealthy opposition?

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obelisk added 11:16 - Apr 8 I wouldn't be dropping Perraud, simply because he's currently our greatest threat in the attacking third. I lot of money was spent a couple of months ago on players that it was thought would make Saints more of an attacking threat. Maybe it's time to give them some game time. Oh, and stop JWP fannying around deep with all that passing sideways/backwards before eventually getting Moi/Stu to give the ball away. If there was one thing that Jones got right it was to push JWP further forward. Might as well lose 2-6 as 0-1.

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felly1 added 11:59 - Apr 8 I wonder if this issue would be discussed if we were half way up the table?
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silverspringsaint added 14:18 - Apr 8 Agree with the comment re Brighton and Brentford. We could and should have been more competitive this season. Main downside is that SR’s reign to date has been a disaster - compared to most of us expecting an upgrade over Gao!
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YosemiteSaint added 17:19 - Apr 8 With Cherries and Hammers both picking up max points today, and our situation being all over but for the shouting, let's forego said shouting and just enjoy tonight's match as a glamorous stroll in the park before the likes of next season's midweek missions to Hull, Stoke, Rotherham, etc.
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