Arsenal welcome Southampton to the Emirates Stadium in a crunch midweek Premier League clash as the hosts look to avoid moving closer towards the relegation zone.
Victory could lift Arsenal above Leeds into 15th whereas Southampton could temporarily go top with a win if Leicester fail to beat Everton in another of Wednesday evening’s early games before Tottenham face Liverpool in a late match.
Team News
Granit Xhaka is suspended for Arsenal after being sent off in Sunday’s loss to Burnley.
Nicholas Pepe meanwhile returns from a three league match ban as Hector Bellerin serves an one match suspension after collecting his fifth booking of the season on Sunday, whilst David Luiz, Reiss Nelson (both head) and Sead Kolasinac (undisclosed) could also feature.
Thomas Partey (thigh) and Gabriel Martinelli (fitness) are still sidelined but could return within coming weeks.
Southampton have no fresh injury concerns to report after Sunday’s dominant home win over Sheffield United as Ralph Hasenhuttl potentially rotates his squad to cope with the festive fixture congestion.
Stat Attack
- Arsenal have lost just one of their last nine league meetings against Southampton (W5, D3, L1).
- Southampton have never won away at Arsenal in 21 Premier League visits (D6, L15).
- Alexandre Lacazette has scored three goals in two home appearances for Arsenal against Southampton.
- Arsenal’s two red cards this season have both come within the opening 15 minutes of the second half.
- Danny Ings has scored in each of his last four away league matches for Southampton.
Prediction
Patience is a virtue for Arsenal here because they were dominant on Sunday against Burnley but a solid Clarets defence caused serious issues, which worryingly manifested into serious second-half self-disciplinary issues for the Gunners and have given Southampton something to work with in terms of soaking up pressure then hitting them on the counter.
Hasenhuttl’s Saints however were relentless against Sheffield Utd with high tempo energy about their play and urgency when on the ball, so if they deploy those tactics here then Arsenal could be in for a difficult evening but Southampton could well make counter-attack tactics work too given their stronger confidence at present.
This though is a huge game for Arsenal because if Fulham were to win later on Wednesday evening then Burnley beat Aston Villa on Thursday, the Gunners could be just three points off the drop zone which I sadly can see happening because this Southampton team just don’t like a side who could lose against a shaky Arsenal lineup.
Prediction: Arsenal 1-2 Southampton
Result: Arsenal 1-1 Southampton
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