Arsenal meet Southampton at Emirates Stadium in a huge Friday Night Football showdown, with implications at both ends of Premier League table.
Victory would see Arsenal move seven points clear of second-placed Manchester City who aren’t in league action this weekend due to their FA Cup commitments.
Southampton meanwhile will move off the foot of the table with a win because Leicester aren’t in action until Saturday afternoon.
Team News
Oleksandr Zinchenko is unlikely to return for Arsenal after he missed their 2-2 draw against West Ham due to a muscle injury.
Takehiro Tomiyasu, Mohamed Elneny (both knee) and William Saliba (back) remain ruled out.
Southampton will be without Ainsley Maitland-Niles who is is ineligible to feature for the Saints, due to rules concerning loan players facing their parent club.
Mislav Orsic (hip) could return but Mohamed Salisu (hip), Che Adams (calf), Valentino Livramento (muscle) and Juan Larios (adductor) remain absent.
When is Kick-Off?
Arsenal host Southampton in a 8pm BST kick-off at Emirates on Friday 21 April, live on Sky Sports in UK.
Stat Attack
- Arsenal are unbeaten in four of their last five league meetings against Southampton (W2, D2, L1).
- Southampton are yet to win away to Arsenal in … Premier League visits (….).
- Arsenal have kept just two clean sheets in their last five league meetings at home to Southampton.
- Arsenal have won just one of two matches played on a Friday night this season in all competitions (W1, L1).
- Southampton have failed to score in their last three away games (D1, L2), during which both defeats came by 1-0 result at Leeds and West Ham respectively.
Prediction
Having blown a two-goal lead in their last two matches, Arsenal now have to reset and just continue to deliver their aggressive attacking intensity but with better end product, whilst their defence just need to keep their cool if want to extend their lead.
Southampton meanwhile surely have to win because if results this weekend go against them, they will be as good as relegated but it is imperative that they show more pace and end product than they did in their loss to Crystal Palace.
Gavin Bazunu though deserves credit because despite a steady if sluggish defence, he was excellent in goal to limit the Saints’ loss to just two goals, so it will be interesting to see how he fares against a fearsome Arsenal attack.
Quite simply, I can see just one winner because unless Southampton deliver a huge improvement in their overall performance and the hosts implode again, Arsenal should comfortably secure a home victory and a clean sheet heading into next Wednesday’s crunch match at Man City.
Prediction: Arsenal 2-0 Southampton
Result: Arsenal 3-3 Southampton