njury absences. Wenger also again addressed the issue

A starring turn in the recent Sri Lanka Under-19 teams tour of England has earned top-order batsman Avishka Fernando a call-up to Sri Lankas squad for the first two ODIs against Australia. Left-arm spinner Amila Aponso has also been named in a national squad for the first time, following good outings in South Africa with the Sri Lanka emerging team.Allrounders Milinda Siriwardana and Thisara Perera returned to the ODI squad, having been dropped for the series against England. Batsman Upul Tharanga and allrounder Dasun Shanaka was omitted, as were Farveez Maharoof, Suraj Randiv and Chaminda Bandara. Tharangas omission is despite his having had moderate success in the lower middle order, in England. Tillakaratne Dilshan returned to the side after having missed the England tour due to personal reasons.Fernando, 18, has not yet played any senior cricket, but recently hit consecutive hundreds - at Chelmsford and Canterbury - to help lead Sri Lanka Under-19 to an unprecedented whitewash over England Under-19. A bruising right-hand batsman, who had played for St. Sebastians College in Moratuwa, Fernando hit 285 runs in that three-match Youth ODI series, at an average of 95 and a strike rate of 103. He had also struck 97 in a Youth ODI against South Africa Under-19, in July.Aponso, meanwhile, had taken 13 wickets for 207 runs against South Africa Emerging XI, in a four-day game in Potchefstroom last week, and returned good figures in the one-day matches on the same tour. He was particularly impressive in first-class cricket for Ragama Cricket Club. He claimed 47 wickets at an average of 20.97 in the most recent Premier League Tournament, to finish third on the wicket-takers list. The man who topped that list - left-arm wristspinner Lakshan Sandakan - was also selected. He had once been in an ODI squad during a home series against England, in 2014, but did not play a game.Siriwardana, who had made a good start to his career with bat and ball, missed out on Test selection, but has now returned to the ODI team. Thisara had only been picked for Sri Lanka As recent tour to England but, despite proving expensive with the ball and only sporadically effective with the bat in that series, he was picked for Sri Lanka again. Allrounder Dhananjaya de Silva was also selected, following promising returns in his debut Test series. De Silva has played one ODI - against Ireland, in June.Nuwan Pradeep had recovered from the hamstring injury he sustained in the Test series, but Suranga Lakmal was the only other specialist seam bowler in this squad. Dushmantha Chameera and Lasith Malinga continued to be unavailable through injury.The first of five ODIs will be played on Sunday, at Khettarama. The series later moves to Dambulla and Pallekele.Sri Lanka ODI squad for first two ODIs: Angelo Mathews (capt), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Danushka Gunathilaka, Dinesh Chandimal, Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva, Milinda Siriwardana, Seekkuge Prasanna, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep, Thisara Perera, Dilruwan Perera, Lakshan Sandakan, Avishka Fernando, Amila Aponso Andre Tippett Youth Jersey . Halifax beat the Saint John Sea Dogs 7-5 on the strength of two goals apiece from Nikolaj Ehlers, Matt Murphy and Brent Andrews. Jonathan Drouin also scored and had three assists while Zachary Fucale made 17 saves for the Mooseheads (16-8-0), who led 6-1 after two periods. Drew Bledsoe Patriots Jersey . Just not the game. 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There has never been any question about both Arsenal and Manchester City having style, but the debate over whether they have the substance to be Premier League champions continues to rage.Despite owning the last two Champions League spots in the table, both Arsenal and Manchester City have armed critics with plenty of skepticism over whether either or both can possibly overtake Chelsea by seasons end heading into Sundays crunch clash of these top-four teams at the Etihad.Much of it has to do with the flowing style of play both employ, a direct contrast to the blood-and-thunder mantra of the Premier League. English fans have long favoured the crunching physical tackle and the challenge of 50/50 balls in the air over the one-touch passes designed to open up defences to exploit via through balls.While Arsene Wenger has built up some capital in his two decades on the Arsenal touchline to deflect barbs and criticisms, it is the arrival of Pep Guardiola at Manchester City (10-3-3) that has added fire to this debate throughout the club backrooms and pubs of England.Wenger took to Guardiolas defense ahead of the midweek matches this week, after Guardiola claimed he wasnt a coach for the tackles, so I dont train the tackles after Manchester Citys 3-1 loss at Leicester City. Its not surprising given the two share a kindred spirit in how they construct offencesPep Guardiola, like myself, we are for offensive football. And when you dont win, people question that. And thats as simple as that, the Gunners boss said. Overall, I think what he wanted to say is that he promoted a game that is positive and I agree with him on that. You respect him for that.At first, it looked like Guardiola was every bit the genius tipped by supporters upon his takeover of City from Bayern Munich -- the team stormed out of the gate to win their first 10 matches in all competitions, including their Champions League playoff to enter the group stages.But that swagger has given way to a City side struggling to find its defensive identity as Guardiola tinkers with his backline on a match-to-match basis. As well as a shift in opponents philosophy to simply let the Citizens pass the ball around the middle of the pitch and then dare them to pile drive through two banks of defenders in the final third.Their 2-0 home win over Watford on Wednesday was more persistence than panache -- defender Pablo Zabaleta finished off a nice cross from Kevin De Bruyne in the first half, and David Silva sealed the three points with a goal on 86 minutes as City struck on the counter as Watford threw numbers forward in search of an equaliser.The victory, though, came at a high price as Guardiola lost Ilkay Gundogan to a torn ACL, a season-ending injury that puts a gaping hole in the midfield for both Citys Premier League title hopes as well as their Champions League aspirations come the knockout stages in February.It is so, so difficult for him, its sad for him, were going to miss him a lot, its unlucky, but thats football, Guardiola told the teams official website.Now we need him to feel we are there and wait and come back safe. Hes going to be operated (upon) and be back as soon as possible.Gundogan will be the fourth key regular out for this match for Guardiola. Defender and talisman Vincent Kompany remains sidelined due to injury while forward and top scorer Sergio Aguero and midfielder Fernandinho continue to serve their four and three-match bans, respectively, for their rooles in a brawl at the end of their 3-1 loss to Chelsea on Dec.dddddddddddd3.On the plus side, Yaya Toure has excelled in the midfield since returning to Guardiolas good graces last month. There is still plenty of quality in the attack with De Bruyne, Silva, and Raheem Sterling in the midfield. It will be interesting to see if Guardiola opts for a solo striker approach again after using Nolito atop a 4-1-4-1 formation versus Watford and leaving Kelechi Iheanacho on the bench.You know the reason why he was out in the first part of the season, Guardiola said about Toure. Now he is playing like he can be, like I met him at Barcelona. Theres no doubt about his quality.Wenger is no stranger to the criticisms that come with his style of play, and some seasons they are louder than others given Arsenals fixture in the top four of the table while not winning any Premier League titles since last lifting the trophy in 2004.But the all-too familiar questions were being asked again after a 2-1 defeat at Everton on Wednesday dropped the Gunners (10-4-2) into third -- behind Liverpool on goal difference, one point better than Manchester City and six adrift of rampaging Chelsea.The Toffees took the match to Arsenal in the second half, utilising that physical style of play Arsenal rarely answer. Wenger felt rightly aggrieved by an error by referee Mark Clattenburg that resulted in an Everton corner that led to Ashley Williams eventual match-winner on 86 minutes, but he also noted his team seemed to back down as Everton grew in the ascendancyWe lost the game because I feel we started well and after that maybe we lost a bit of urgency because we were a bit too comfortable and then Everton made it very physical. Overall, I believe that from then on it disturbed our game and we created less flow going forward.We didnt create too many but we had clear-cut chances in the game we didnt take. After that you can be caught away from home on a corner like that.Like Guardiola, Wenger is dealing with some key absences due to injury, most notably central defender Shkodran Mustfai and holding midfielder Santi Carzola. Denny Welbeck, Aaron Ramsey and Per Mertesacker continue to be long-term injury absences. Wenger also again addressed the issue of contract extensions for Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil, both of whom have 18 months remaining on their respective deals.You waste your time because these players have 18 months on their contracts and I dont see why there is any urgency in every press conference to have that question, Wenger mused. Maybe you lack a bit of creativity in the newspapers and you always come up with the same subject. I dont see why that should turn up in every press conference.Arsenal took four points in the two games between the teams last season, posting a 2-1 victory at the Emirates and scrambling from a pair of one-goal deficits to forge a 2-2 tie at the Etihad. Olivier Giroud scored in both matches, and Sanchez scored the equaliser in the corresponding fixture. De Bruyne and Aguero netted the two goals for City.The Gunners are unbeaten in their last five (2-3-0) against City but also have just two wins in their last nine trips (2-2-5) to the blue side of Manchester. Arsenal have won 23 of the 38 all-time Premier League matches between the teams, while all six of Citys wins have come since 2006. ' ' '