The strongest Southampton lineup to take some points against Arsenal

After the recent Bournemouth defeat, Southampton have turned their attention towards facing Mikel Arteta's Arsenal in another away fixture at the Emirates Stadium. While Arsenal are the heavy favourites to secure their fifth league win in this match, Southampton will look for inspiration from their recent matches with Arsenal to hold Mikel Arteta's side to a draw.

Moreover, Southampton need to start taking points regularly in the Premier League as they aim to stay in the Premier League after the end of this season. Therefore, on that note, here is the strongest Southampton lineup to face Arsenal in the seventh league match.

Goalkeeper and Defence

Undoubtedly, new signing Aaron Ramsdale will start as the goalkeeper for Southampton after making several good saves in the recent matches. The 26-year-old star joined the Saints from Arsenal in a £25 million transfer move this summer and will aim to put up a world-class performance against his former side. Further, Southampton haven't kept a clean-sheet this season and Ramsdale would want to register his first Southampton clean-sheet, which will give Russell Martin's side some important points from this away match.

Coming to the defence, Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Jan Bednarek will start again for Southampton in the absence of experienced defender Jack Stephens, who will miss this game following his two-match suspension. Taylor Harwood-Bellis has been a reliable defender for the Saints in the previous three matches, and together Bednarek will hope to form a rock solid centre-back partnership against Arsenal.

At left back, Charlie Taylor should be started again as the 31-year-old fullback is a much better defensive option than star defender Kyle Walker-Peters at the left side of the defence. In the recent matches against Ipswich Town and Everton, Taylor displayed his brilliant defending ability while playing as a left back, and helped Southampton in winning the ball possession to create chances going forward.

Moreover, Taylor is left-footed as well and possesses a decent recovery pace, making him a good option to keep Bukayo Saka away from making key passes inside the box. On the other side of the defence, Yukinari Sugawara will again start for Russell Martin's side following his encouraging performances for the Saints since arriving from Eredivisie side Alkmaar in this transfer window.

The Japan international has been one of the few positives for Southampton in this season, and is good with his passing ability and build up play. Moreover, the 24-year-old is a versatile fullback who can advance forward and make a few key passes inside the final third.