Southampton welcome Arsenal to St Mary’s Stadium in a midweek Premier League clash, just days after dumping the FA Cup holders out of this season’s FA Cup.
If West Ham lose to Crystal Palace in an early evening kick-off, Southampton could climb to seventh with victory although sixth is a distinct possibility if win by three or more goals.
Arsenal meanwhile could go above the Saints into eighth with a win.
Team News
Nathan Redmond could return for Southampton after recovering from a groin injury, although he is only set for the bench at best.
Kyle Walker-Peters is a doubt with tight quads whilst Ryan Bertrand is suspended and joins Jannik Vestergaard, Will Smallbone (both knee), Moussa Djenepo, Nathan Tella (both muscle), Mohamed Salisu (muscle), Oriol Romeu (calf) and Michael Obafemi (undisclosed)
Arsenal could welcome Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang back after he missed Saturday’s defeat for personal reasons.
Dani Ceballos (calf) is also a doubt but Pablo Mari (calf) is likely to remain absent.
Stat Attack
- Southampton have won just one of their last ten league meetings against Arsenal (W1, D4, L5).
- Arsenal have won just two of their last six league visits to St Mary’s Stadium (W2, D1, L3).
- The Gunners have scored twice in five of their last six league matches against Southampton.
- No Southampton player has made more clearances than Jan Bednarek, who has made 193 clearances this season in 18 league appearances.
- Bukayo Saka has produced more shots in the league this season than any other Arsenal player, having made 39 shots in 17 appearances.
Prediction
Having dominated Saturday’s FA Cup clash, Southampton will certainly be fired up for this clash because Arsenal seem to have reverted back to their usual sloppy performance, especially given how flat their display was with terrible defending.
I however do expect squad rotation from both teams here given the congested fixture scheduling but if Aubameyang returns, I feel that Arsenal could have the edge in attack but I am going for a draw if Southampton waste chances like they did at the weekend.
Prediction: Southampton 1-1 Arsenal
Result: Southampton 1-3 Arsenal
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