Relegation battling Southampton host table-topping Arsenal at St Mary’s Stadium in a huge Super Sunday clash.
Victory would see Southampton climb to 11th in the table, whilst Arsenal can re-open a four-point lead at the summit with a win.
Team News
Kyle Walker-Peters is ruled out for Southampton with a thigh injury suffered in their midweek win at Bournemouth.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles is ineligble for this match whilst Armel Bella-Kotchap (shoulder), Valentino Livramento (knee) and Romeo Lavia (muscle) remain ruled out.
Arsenal could be without Bukayo Saka after he suffered a knock in Thursday’s Europa League win against PSV Eindhoven.
Oleksandr Zinchenko (muscle) could return but Emile Smith Rowe (groin) and Mohamed Elneny (hamstring) remain absent.
Stat Attack
- Southampton have won just one of their last seven league meetings against Arsenal (W1, D2, L4).
- Arsenal are unbeaten in three of last five league visits to St Mary’s Stadium (W2, D1, L2).
- Ralph Hasenhuttl’s Saints have won two of their last three home clashes against Arsenal by 1-0 result in all competitions.
- Southampton have scored first in two of four home matches in which they found the net this season.
- Arsenal have conceded just three goals in five league matches away from home this season – which came in a 3-1 defeat at Manchester United in September 2022.
Prediction
Having endured a rut of poor performances with manager – Ralph Hasenhuttl under pressure, Southampton actually demonstrated that they still can deliver in a positive midweek win over Bournemouth – where they were clinical and showed great energy whilst also defending impressively.
Arsenal meanwhile for the third consecutive match weren’t at their absolute best but they did a brilliant job to dominate PSV on Thursday evening with numerous waves of attacks, yet lacked the final touch on many occasions but importantly grinded out another deserved win.
It however was the third consecutive match where Arsenal had rode their luck with a narrow victory and with Southampton having achieved similar at Bournemouth 24 hours earlier, I do feel that we could see a tighter game than expected amidst Arsenal’s inconsistent form in recent visits.
Mikel Arteta’s Gunners though have shown their all-round quality on many occasions so the pressure is on Southampton to build upon their midweek performance, otherwise Arsenal could snatch another win to continue their awesome start to the season.
Prediction: Southampton 1-2 Arsenal
Result: Southampton 1-1 Arsenal
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