Ralph Hassenhuttl’s struggling Southampton side will not be looking forward to their clash with Mikel Arteta’s in-form Arsenal side at 2pm on Sunday.

Southampton’s last league victory came on August 30th, with a 2-1 victory over Chelsea, losing to Wolves, Aston Villa, Everton and Manchester City as well as drawing with West Ham since beating Chelsea. However, with a game against Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium on Wednesday, Southampton will be hoping to take some slight momentum into the game against the league leaders. Arsenal’s form has been the polar opposite, winning 9 of their first 10 Premier League games this season as well as all 3 of their Europa League games. Arsenal have a blank game week 12, as their European fixture against PSV Eindhoven was rescheduled from the Queen’s funeral weekend. This may result in Mikel Arteta rotating his starting 11 against PSV Eindhoven, to rest a few of his heavy hitters for the Southampton game. Arsenal come into this game in fine league form, beating Brentford 3-0, Tottenham 3-1, Liverpool 3-2 and then most recently besting Leeds 1-0 in an enthralling fixture at Elland Road, with overturned penalties, missed penalties and a rescinded red card!

Team News

Southampton may be missing summer signing Armel Bella-Kotchap, who started his Premier League career in fine form for the Saints after arriving from VfL Bochum aged just 20 in June of this year. He is expected to be returning in early November. Southampton are also missing fellow new signing Romeo Lavia with a thigh injury, who is expected to return at the end of October, and finally Valentino Livramento who has been sidelined with a long term knee injury but is expected to return around the turn of the new year.

Meanwhile, Arsenal are missing 3 first teamers – new signing Oleksandr Zinchenko is a doubt with a lower leg injury, Mohamed Elneny is being rested with a thigh injury and last season superstar Emile Smith-Rowe is estimated to return around Christmas time, with a groin/pelvic injury, for which he has undergone recent surgery. However, the Gunners haven’t let their injuries affect their form, with players such as Gabriel Martinelli, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Benjamin White stepping up in the absence of others and maintaining the standard Arsenal have been competing at. Mikel Arteta will be hoping his side have enough ability and momentum to breeze past Southampton without noticing the absences.

Predicted Line-ups

Southampton

Bazunu, Walker-Peters, Caleta-Car, Salisu, Perraud, Ward Prowse, Maitland-Niles, Elyounoussi, Aribo, Adams, Armstrong

Arsenal

Ramsdale, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Tomiyasu, Thomas, Xhaka, Odegaard, Saka, Martinelli, Jesus

I believe both sides will feature very similar sides to their previous outings, with Arsenal unchanged from their win at Leeds and Southampton virtually unchanged from their draw at home to West Ham, with Hassenhuttl opting to bring in Duje Caleta-Car for the injured Armel Bella-Kotchap.

Players To Watch

For Southampton, I would keep an eye on club captain James Ward-Prowse. The Englishman has notched 1 goal and 2 assists against Arsenal in 18 appearances, and at times has seemed to be Southampton’s main main man this season, following on from a stellar 2021-22 season with 10 goals and 5 assists throughout the season. I believe that if Southampton are going to get a result, Ward-Prowse will be the man to unlock Arsenal and cause the Gunners major problems.

For Arsenal, I have several players in mind, but I have to highlight Granit Xhaka. Once a hated character at the Emirates after being stripped of the captain’s armband, Xhaka has put all of his past flaws behind him and is staking a claim for the best player in the Premier League so far this season. The 30 year old Swiss midfielder has 2 goals and 3 assists for Arsenal, bettering his goal involvements tally for the last 4 years despite only being 10 matches into the season. You could see how much this tale of redemption has meant to Xhaka as he celebrated his goal against Tottenham to put Arsenal 3-1 up in the North London derby, effectively sealing all 3 points for his side. If Xhaka can contain James Ward-Prowse’s creative threat as well as adding his own potency to Arsenal’s attacking unit, he could make this fixture a much simpler one for this young Arsenal side, and we all know Xhaka has the experience as well as the ability to take a game by the scruff of the neck.

Match Details

Where is the fixture being played?

The fixture is being played at St Mary’s Stadium, the home ground of Southampton FC.

What time is kick-off?

The fixture kicks off at 2pm BST on Sunday afternoon, on the 23rd October.

How can I watch the fixture?

This fixture is being streamed by Sky Sports, requiring a Sky Sports subscription to watch the game live.

My Predictions

I believe Arsenal will have too much firepower for this struggling Southampton side and therefore my prediction will be a 3-0 victory for the Gunners, with goals coming from Gabriel Jesus (2) and Gabriel Martinelli (1.)

VAVEL Logo
About the author