Match Preview

Arsenal travel to St. Mary’s to face Southampton in the English Premier league. The Gunners have now amassed a 22 game unbeaten run in all competitions.

Southampton sit 3 points above relegation and with a new manager, in charge of his first match in their home stadium.

Southampton

Ralph Hasenhuttl, the new manager has been informed he will be given enough time to implement his philosophy on a Southampton squad which is still full of quality, but the Austrian will be aware that he must also find a way to get points on the board as soon as possible.

Southampton’s home form since the start of the 2017-18 campaign has been abysmal with just 24 points coming from their last 26 league outings at St Mary’s, and it is a record which simply must improve if Southampton are to remain as a top-flight side.

The Saints will not have it easy in the next few games as they are up against Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea. But a good showing against the above opponents could herald their return to good form and fortune.

Ryan Bertrand, Cedric Soares and Daany Ings are likely to make it back from respective injuries to give a boost to the team.

Southampton possible starting eleven:

McCarthy; Soares, Bednarek, Vestergaard, Bertrand; Hojbjerg, Romeu, Lemina; Redmond, Armstrong, Austin

Arsenal

Arsenal have had a good run of form in recent times and are in pole position to win this game. This is beacuse of the fact that Unai Emery has been able to turn this Arsenal side to winners again.

Emery has solved issues in goal and in central midfield, worked to rediscover the team’s scoring touch in the final third and showed a willingness to hand opportunities to youth, and all that combined has brought a wave of positivity to the Emirates Stadium.

The Gunners had to rely on a late goal to defeat Huddersfield Town last weekend, although a rare clean sheet and a scrappy win will be appreciated by a fanbase who have been used to goals galore since Emery’s arrival.

Alex Lacazette and  Pierre Emerick Aubameyang have ensured the goals are coming in and with that, the gunners are not likely to have problems winning matches going forward.

Skodran Mustafi amd Sokratis are both suspended while Rob Holding is out for the season and so Emery woupd have to find replacements.

Arsenal possible starting eleven:

Head To Head

This weekend’s match-up will represent the 96th meeting between the two clubs, with Arsenal registering 49 wins in comparison to 20 victories for Southampton.