Southampton make another trip to London this weekend as they face an in-form Arsenal side at the Emirates Stadium.
The Saints will be looking for a response after a poor showing last time out as they were well beaten 3-0 by West Ham at the London Stadium. Mark Hughes’ side were out of sorts last weekend and must have a reaction against an Arsenal side who have impressed in recent times.
Arsene Wenger’s men have won their last five games in all competitions which included a comfortable 4-1 victory over CSKA Moscow in the Europa League on Thursday night, with Aaron Ramsey and Alexandre Lacazette both scoring braces.
The Gunners have picked up six points from their last five league games, including last weekend’s 3-0 victory over Stoke City at the Emirates.
As for Saints, they have embarked on a poor run of form and have claimed just two points from their last five encounters in the top flight.
Hughes has now had two matches in charge of the club and has struggled to get much of a reaction from his side, bar a small section of the second half against League One side Wigan Athletic three weeks ago in the FA Cup.
If the Saints are to taste defeat in this game, it would appear to be incredibly difficult for them to get out of trouble with the games quickly now running out.
The two clubs met earlier in the season as they drew 1-1 at St Mary’s. Olivier Giroud cancelled out Charlie Austin’s early strike with a good header after coming off the bench..
A number of players including Oriol Romeu, Shane Long, Maya Yoshida and James Ward-Prowse are pushing for starts following the embarrassing defeat at the London Stadium last weekend.
Saints manager Hughes has sat down and spoken to the media this week ahead of his side’s trip to the Emirates, insisting that his side need to at least put in a performance for the supporters making the trip up. As quoted by the club’s official website, he said;
We’ve got to go there and get a positive result. The bare minimum is a good performance for the travelling Saints fans and to be positive in our outlook.
I expect a reaction from the team. We need to be more resilient when momentum goes against us. I’ve told them this week what is acceptable in games and what isn’t.
In terms of team news, Hughes is set to have a fully fit squad to choose from for the trip to Arsenal. The only concern for Hughes is Mario Lemina, who has been ill this week. He did, however, train today ahead of the match.
As for the Gunners, they remain without goalkeeper David Ospina, with the Colombia international sidelined with a foot injury. Youngster Ainsley Maitland-Niles will also miss the game while Henrikh Mkhitaryan will miss the clash after picking up a knee injury in the Europa League last night.
I feel that the Gunners will have one eye on the return leg of the Europa League tie with CSKA Moscow on Thursday night and will name a weakened side, which could give the Saints a good chance of claiming something from the game.
I think that the Saints will nick a 1-1 draw on Sunday afternoon.
