Arsenal vs Southampton Preview: How to Watch, Predicted Lineups, Score Prediction & Team News

Arsenal host high-flying Southampton in the Premier League on Wednesday.

Normally at this point all the Premier League demons are cast aside to shift focus towards a tame Europa League fixture against a minnow. Arsenal have no such pleasantries awaiting them. It’s back to the Premier League.

Even on Sunday there was some optimism that a side boasting a woeful record against Arsenal would provide some respite. Burnley, without a win at the Emirates Stadium, proved that not even history is working in our favour.

Agony beyond anything supporters will have felt in their lifetimes supporting Arsenal continued to  sting. Most brutal of all, this isn’t even rock bottom.

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Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side head to the capital in electric form, occupying fourth spot in the table with their best start to a season for six years and just one defeat in ten league outings. A healthy squad full of purpose and belief, Wednesday’s opposition are far from ideal.

What can Arsenal do? Signs of life, let alone three points, are all that will bring a halt, albeit likely only temporarily, to this ever increasing pain.

The circumstances facing Mikel Arteta edge nearer to irreparable. Staunch belief in his senior squad members, those who’ve consistently let him down, must be abruptly abandoned. For Wednesday he will make such alterations with a forced hand.

Four wins from 12 Premier League matches have the Gunners hovering five points and three places above the bottom three, demonstrating the level of form reminiscent of a side heading for relegation. Never before in the club’s history have they tasted five consecutive defeats on home soil. That page is open with pen in hand.

Here is your preview of Wednesday’s Premier League clash.

How to Watch on TV

When Is Kick Off? Wednesday 16th December
What Time Is Kick Off? 18:00 (BST)
Where Is it Played? Emirates Stadium
TV Channel/Live Stream? Prime Video (UK) fuboTV (USA)
Referee? Paul Tierney

Team News

Losing two senior players for any Premier League clash isn’t ideal, although the two notable absentees for Wednesday will fall in line with requests the fans have been asking for in recent weeks.

Granit Xhaka‘s inexplicable moment of stupidity will see him miss the next three matches through suspension, lunacy that may well have cost his side three points but a decision that will leave many more hopeful of three points elsewhere.

Hector Bellerin will also sit out through suspension having picked up his fifth yellow card already this season.

Along with those two, David Luiz is expected to be available after recovering from a head wound, and could take up his place in central defence alongside Gabriel Magalhaes.

Reiss Nelson wasn’t involved against Burnley, a call that is either related to a minor knock sustained in training or for tactical reasons. Thomas Partey continues to be absent and is set to miss out until January. A similar timeframe is set for Gabriel Martinelli.

Arsenal do welcome back Nicolas Pepe, who has now served his own three-match suspension and could be recalled immediately for the visit of the Saints.

As for the visitors, they arrive to the Emirates Stadium with a clean bill of health, missing no senior squad members as Hasenhuttl bids to secure the Saints’ first away league victory over Arsenal since 1987.

Predicted Lineups

Arsenal: Leno; Maitland-Niles, Holding, Gabriel, Tierney; Ceballos, Elneny, Saka; Pepe, Aubameyang, Willian

Southampton: McCarthy; Walker-Peters, Bednarek, Vestergaard, Bertrand; Armstrong, Ward-Prowse, Romeu, Walcott; Ings, Adams

Arsenal vs Southampton Score Prediction

I tip my hat to the supporter who comes into this one with even the slightest inkling of hope. Whether it’s hidden in the back of your brain and the size of a fingernail, if there is but a faint voice telling you this will end well, I commend you.

That probably has something to do with the lack of Bellerin and Xhaka.

Bellerin had started the season strongly only to have tailed off considerably in recent weeks, whereas Xhaka has flattered to deceive throughout the campaign.

Some argue his stats suggest otherwise. He ranked second for passes into the final third prior to Burnley, a totally miscued figure that ignores where those passes go and how many touches he needs before distributing them.

https://twitter.com/PainInThArsenal/status/1338223524176138246

Added mobility is impossible to avoid for Wednesday with his absence, as even Dani Ceballos can claim to be quicker getting about the pitch, albeit not by much.

Arteta has to change his team around. Following the Spurs defeat his only alteration was Mohamed Elneny coming in. An enforced one. Despite placing so much belief in the shambolic senior troupe, he’s become so set in his ways that the only two changes we can expect will be those he has no say over.

Nobody wants to face Southampton at this moment in time, their strike partnership is a delightfully enjoyable modern variation of the classic forward combos, while James Ward-Prowse is the master puppeteer who keeps the Saint ticking along.

Their only weakness is in goal, but even Alex McCarthy has enjoyed a decent run of form this season. Theo Walcott is back at the Emirates too; him notching a goal is an outcome not worth visiting.

It will get worse before it gets better. And while an improvement is demanded from Arsenal, and slightly expected, this falls into the ‘worse’ category.

Score Prediction: Arsenal 1-3 Southampton