Former Southampton star reveals the turning point in Southampton's 3-1 defeat against Arsenal

Although Southampton faced two consecutive 3-1 defeats within the span of one week, the Saints gave two contrasting performances in both of them. Coming on the back of conceding three first half goals against Bournemouth, facing Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium become a much bigger task for Russell Martin's side than they would have previously expected. Mikel Arteta's Arsenal displayed their resilience against Leicester City last weekend, when they staged a last-minute comeback against Leicester to win the game 4-2 despite a great second half effort from the visitors.

Southampton also took inspiration from Leicester City's heroic defensive efforts throughout the match and didn't allow Arsenal to take an early lead before half-time. In the second half, the Saints increased their efforts in the attack as well and Cameron Archer's brilliant bottom corner finish seemed to reap the rewards for Southampton's rock solid defending in the first half. However, after that Arsenal started progressing more inside the final third and their high-pressing tactics led them to take advantage of some misplaced passes from Southampton and helped them register a stunning 3-1 comeback win.

Former Southampton star reveals the turning point in Southampton's 3-1 defeat against Arsenal

After the match, BBC Analyst Gary Lineker revealed Alan Shearer's thoughts on the match and highlighted Archer's 1-0 goal as the moment the former Southampton star knew Arsenal would win 3-1, saying,

"I remember, as soon as Southampton scored, and they started causing Arsenal a few problems in the second half, as soon as they scored, Alan Shearer goes 3-1, it will be 3-1."

- Gary Lineker

Shearer's prediction ultimately came true which showcases the difference between the two sides at the moment. While Southampton made defensive mistakes due to focusing more on the chance of securing a first Premier League win rather than maintaining their defensive solidity, Arsenal once again showed their quality and composure even after going 1-0 down against a nineteenth placed team.

However, this match was a great response from Southampton who still need to improve on keeping their focus throughout the match as they have dropped several points by making some mistakes towards the final fifteen minutes in this season's league matches.