Monday Briefing: 10th December

A week of hard work ahead

After defeat at Cardiff City, Saints now have their first full week of training under new manager Ralph Hasenhüttl ahead of a meeting with Arsenal at St Mary’s in the Premier League on Sunday.

The Austrian had 48 hours to work with the player’s ahead of the 1-0 defeat to the Bluebirds, who struck on 74 minutes following a sustained spell of Saints pressure which saw Stuart Armstrong denied what looked a clear penalty.

And Hasenhüttl is keen to instill messages in his players so their behaviours start to become automatic.

“It’s the most important week in the next month, because we have enough time to work on a lot of things,” Hasenhüttl said.

“There are a lot of things that are not autonomous and are not habits, which is what we want to see. We have time now, and we need fill this time with impacts.”

Under-23s set for West Ham clash

Radhi Jaidi’s men have the chance to respond quickly to their 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa, when they meet West Ham in Premier League International Cup action on Tuesday (7pm GMT).

Saints youngsters sit 2nd in Group A having beaten Dinamo Zagreb and drawn with FC Porto so far in the competition.

Watch the highlights from their last meeting against Porto below…

Under-18s fall to Liverpool defeat

Saints youngsters suffered a 3-0 defeat away to Liverpool in their final group match of the Under-18 Premier League Cup.

Paul Glatzel’s hat-trick meant the hosts would finish at the top of the standings.

Leicester City tickets on sale this week

Tickets for Southampton’s away trip to Leicester City in the Premier League on Saturday 12th January (3pm GMT). We have been given an initial allocation of 2,254 and they will go on sale to eligible Season Ticket holders from Tuesday at 9am.