Arsenal facing potential selection blow vs Southampton

Near enough everything that could have gone wrong for Arsenal over the last two Premier League matches has gone wrong. The defeats in isolation are tough enough take, so throwing in crucial injuries to this melting pot of concern has cranked the heat up.

Arsenal know that can ill-afford any more slip-ups if they are to keep their top four ambitions alive. Even without the games to come most have consigned themselves to Europa League football, while others are fearing even worse.

A Southampton side in dire form should be the ideal opposition to right some wrongs. They’ve lost their last four at home, including a 6-0 spanking at the hands of Chelsea most recently, which usually means Arsenal turn up and gift them three points. Such is tradition.

How Mikel Arteta contends with the injuries to Thomas Partey and Kieran Tierney is the hottest topic of debate heading into this game. His tactical setup against Brighton was doomed from the start, and another worrying indicator that he isn’t learning certain aspects of management quick enough.

Arsenal facing potential selection blow vs Southampton with Alexandre Lacazette a possibility to miss out on Saturday’s Premier League clash

In among the left-back and midfield debates is another position under discussion, with the worrying form of Alexandre Lacazette at centre-forward seeing calls for him to be dropped from the team. In the side to offer facilitation and link-up at the expense of his non-existent goal threat, of late he’s not even providing that.

There is now some confusion around his involvement, with it not entirely certain whether the club captain will be available for the trip to the south coast having missed Wednesday and Thursday’s training sessions for apparent personal reasons.

"Speaking about his absences from training, Arteta said: “There are private reasons, I have no other team news other than the guys [who are known about].”He followed that up by saying there is “a good chance he’ll be available”, although having missed training sessions it may be that a spot on the bench is the best he can hope for."

In his absence the obvious candidate to replace him in the lineup is the only other senior striker that Arteta has to select from. Many fans are pining for Gabriel Martinelli to move centrally and inject some pace and threat in behind, although the manager may want to make as few structural changes as he can having already too many against the Seagulls.

Having heard the news, there will be a questions raised whether this is even a blow or not. Over the past three games Lacazette has been anonymous, his touch is worsening and the lack of desire to even attempt to partake in ‘striker things’ is severely hindering Arsenal’s attacking output.

But no matter whether or not he’s someone who should to start the match, with a squad this thin any absentee is going to be a huge miss. If Nketiah plays and has a shocking game, who is there to bring on with 20 minutes to go?

Arsenal need all their pieces if they are to solve this puzzle and regardless of an individual’s form, there will always be moments in matches where the bench is required.