Update On The Opposition: Southampton

So only a few days after we faced West Brom and Southampton host Manchester City, the teams will meet on Wednesday night at the Emirates for the second time this year. Obviously that first meeting was in the League cup, one which Southampton won due to a wonder goal from Nathaniel Clyne after Alexis had put us ahead.

Season so far

To say Southampton are performing well above their expectations is an understatement. With top players like Lovren, Lallana and Lambert all moving to Liverpool they were expected to struggle to repeat their good form from last season.

However they have proven that a mix of young English talent and buying solid players for relatively little can work wonders on your team. Nathaniel Clyne has rocketed into the England setup after this season’s performances and he deserved it, and further forward the combination of Pelle and Tadic has worked wonders in replacing Lallana and Lambert.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

They are currently third in the league, however I will say that they have lost all games against ‘big teams’. Yes, unfortunately I’m counting Spurs as a big team to highlight my point. They have lost to Liverpool, Spurs and City this season, and they didn’t really look like winning the matches when it was all considered.

Their best chance probably came at the weekend when City went down to 10 men, but they struggled to capitalise against a team set up to attack with speed and the clinical nature of City’s finishing meant that Southampton were left to pick up the pieces of a match that looked close.

Missing players

Apart from those that they sold in the transfer window, Southampton have been relatively untroubled by injuries in the league this year which has helped them maintain their form. Reported Arsenal target Schneiderlin has been rules out however, and will not make any appearance at the Emirates on Wednesday night.