Saints Marching
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Southampton vs. Arsenal: Opposition threat

By Chris Hughes

LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 07: Olivier Giroud of Arsenal celebrates after scoring his teams fifth goal of the game from the penalty spot during the UEFA Europa League group H match between Arsenal FC and BATE Borisov at Emirates Stadium on December 7, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 07: Olivier Giroud of Arsenal celebrates after scoring his teams fifth goal of the game from the penalty spot during the UEFA Europa League group H match between Arsenal FC and BATE Borisov at Emirates Stadium on December 7, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images) /
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LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 06: Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott of Arsenal celebrate with the Community Shield on the pitch after the FA Community Shield match between Chelsea and Arsenal at Wembley Stadium on August 6, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 06: Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott of Arsenal celebrate with the Community Shield on the pitch after the FA Community Shield match between Chelsea and Arsenal at Wembley Stadium on August 6, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images) /

Olivier Giroud

Again, not everyone’s cup of tea or first selection when thinking about Arsenal’s top three threats, but Giroud is as dangerous as he’s ever been.

The 31-year-old striker might have just three Premier League goals to his name for the campaign, but they’ve come off just over 230 minutes of football. All in all, he’s averaging a goal every 78 minutes this season.

The Saints have struggled against physical forwards this season and Fraser Forster has notoriously struggled to deal with headed balls and strikers who feed off scraps. Javier Hernandez, Glenn Murray and Romelu Lukaku have all capitalized on this.

Whether the Saints are winning, whether it’s a draw or even if Arsenal have ran away with it, bringing Giroud on in the last 15 will almost certainly result in a goal.