Southampton v Arsenal: Preview and Predictions
A second game in four days sees Southampton welcome Arsenal to St. Mary’s in a fixture that has regularly produced excitement. Wednesday night’s game kicks off at 7:45pm. The last four games between these sides at St Marys have produced a whopping 15 goals.
Arsenal’s last visit to St Marys was in the FA Cup when they drubbed Southampton 5-0. Albeit against what some would call a ‘C’ team, whilst Arsenal fielded the like of Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck.
Southampton will hope to seek revenge for this defeat by derailing Arsenal’s hopes of clinching a top four spot. Coming off the back of a sturdy defensive display against Liverpool in Sunday’s 0-0 draw, Southampton will be confident of claiming at least a point against Arsenal.
Arsenal though most recently won at home against Manchester United, beating their top-six rivals 2-0 with goals from Granit Xhaka and Welbeck. This means Arsenal have a lot to play for come Wednesday night.
A win for Arsenal would see them go above Man United into fifth place, only three points off Manchester City in that coveted fourth Champions League spot. Southampton will be looking to consolidate their top half status and bring themselves ever closer to West Brom in eighth place.
Why Southampton will win
Southampton, in the Premier League, have not lost at St Mary’s since December 2003. Robert Pires scoring the winner on that occasion. A record I’m sure the players will want to keep going.
Puel decided to rest Redmond against Liverpool by starting him on the bench. Meaning he should be fresh to attack the Arsenal defence. Puel’s preferred style of soaking up pressure to launch a counter attack may prove useful against Arsenal’s attacking mentality.
Additionally, Charlie Austin has returned to training and is a possibility for being named as a substitute. Austin’s ability in the air is able to cause the Arsenal defence all sorts of problems. If brought on, using Redmond’s pace to provide crosses for Austin to feed off could prove a good source of goals.
After the hard fought point gained against Liverpool, Southampton should use this momentum to build on that result against the Gunners.
Why Arsenal will win
Arsenal are on relatively good form only losing to Tottenham in recent weeks. Whilst Sanchez has been going through a relatively quiet patch his quality is known and he can win games for Arsenal if he is in the mood.
On top of the quality of Sanchez, former Saint Oxlade-Chamberlain has hit a purple patch in his Arsenal career. Providing assists and a man of the match performance last time out against Manchester United. The likes of Ramsey and Holding seem to have flourished in the new 3-4-3 system Wenger has implemented in recent weeks.
Furthermore, it has been noted that Jack Stephens and Yoshida struggle against the more physical forwards. Wenger may utilise Giroud upfront against the Saints to target this weakness.
Next: Do we believe Claude Puel's comments on van Dijk's future?
Southampton Predicted XI
Goalkeeper – Fraser Forster
Defenders – Cedric Soares, Jack Stephens, Maya Yoshida, Ryan Bertrand
Midfielders – Oriol Romeu, Emile-Pierre Hojbjerg, James Ward-Prowse, Nathan Redmond, Dusan Tadic
Forwards – Manolo Gabbiadini
Arsenal Predicted XI
Goalkeeper – Petr Cech
Defenders – Laurent Koscielny, Rob Holding, Nacho Monreal
Midfielders – Oxlade-Chamberlain, Aaron Ramsey, Granit Xhaka, Theo Walcott
Forwards – Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanches, Olivier Giroud
The Verdict
Usually this game provides a lot of goals and a lot of excitement. Although, with both teams having a lot to play for and Southamptons new style of play, however I expect a much tighter affair this time round.