Southampton make the trip to North London to face Arsenal this weekend and they will be wanting to get a positive result from the game.
They currently sit a point inside the Premier League’s relegation zone and have 12 games left to ensure survival in the top-flight for another season.
Hosts Arsenal have shown some promising form at times in Unai Emery’s first campaign in charge but inconsistency has still produced some questions for the Gunners.
The first meeting between these two sides back in December was Ralph Hasenhuttl’s first home game as Saints manager and ended in a superb 3-2 win for his side.
Both sides will be needing the points from this one with Saints fighting for survival and Arsenal wanting to stay in pursuit of a top-four place.
Team News
Two Arsenal defenders in Laurent Koscielny and Ainsley Maitland-Niles are being assessed after suffering from a calf issue and illness respectively.
Hector Bellerin, Rob Holding and Danny Welbeck are all long-term absentees and are recovering from surgery.
Saints could be boosted by the return of Michael Obafemi and Stuart Armstrong for this one but aren’t without their injury concerns either.
Danny Ings remains out with a hamstring complaint and Mario Lemina is yet to return to full fitness.
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Why Arsenal will win
The depth of the Gunners’ squad means that they always have quality options available despite their busy schedule.
Alexandre Lacazette and Aaron Ramsey were rested for the 3-1 win against Bate Borisov on Thursday evening, whilst Lucas Torreira and Denis Suarez came on as second-half substitutes.
Arsenal have a real chance of winning the Europa League and therefore qualifying for the Champions League next season, but they will also be as determined as ever to finish in the top-four.
Why Southampton will win
When Saints kick-off at the Emirates on Sunday, it will have been 15 days since they last had a game and their fresh legs could certainly cause a potentially tired Arsenal side some problems.
Ralph Hasenhuttl made good use of the break and took his side away to Tenerife for a warm-weather training camp to work on specific parts of their game.
A mixture of refined tactical understanding from Saints and the freshness they have gained from their break could be key in getting an important result here.
Predicted Lineups
Arsenal
Goalkeeper: Bernd Leno
Defenders: Shkodran Mustafi, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Nacho Monreal
Midfielders: Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Lucas Torreira, Aaron Ramsey, Sead Kolasinac
Forwards: Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Alexandre Lacazette, Alex Iwobi
Southampton
Goalkeeper: Alex McCarthy
Defenders: Yan Valery, Jan Bednarek, Jack Stephens, Jannik Vestergaard, Ryan Bertrand
Midfielders: Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Oriol Romeu, James Ward-Prowse
Forwards: Nathan Redmond, Shane Long