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Southampton vs Arsenal: 16/12/2018 – match preview and predicted starting XIs

Southampton vs Arsenal

Date: 16/12/2018

K/O: 13:30

Venue: St. Mary’s

Referee: Chris Kavanagh

TV: Sky Sports

Ralph Hasenhuttl faces his toughest challenge as manager of the Saints so far, hosting Arsenal, who are currently unbeaten in 21 games in all competitions, in his first home game. Unai Emery will be confident that his men will be able to comfortably beat the Saints this weekend, and the stats firmly back this up.

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Southampton are winless in 14 games, which is their second worst run in the history of the club. Only once have they managed a worse run – 20 games in March 1989. Arsenal have won three and drawn one of their last four encounters with the Saints in all competitions.

However, in the Premier League Arsenal have won only one of their last seven away games at St. Mary’s (D4-L2) which may give the Saints team some belief that they can get something from this game. Furthermore, it may be just a point that the Austrian aims for, as the Saints have the lowest win percentage of any Premier League team in the competition’s history against Arsenal (15.8%).

A win for Southampton could lift them out of the relegation zone, level on points with Burnley, but with only five points separating 14th and 20th place, the relegation battle is the closest it has been in a long time. All it takes is one or two teams to hit a decent run to separate the survivors from the teams who are going down, and at the minute its looks as though Cardiff are starting to hit good for; it’s an opportunity which should be seized as soon as possible – though will they take it?

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Arsenal are currently sitting outside of a Champions League place on goal difference, behind London rivals Chelsea. Emery will see this fixture as a perfect opportunity to close the gap on goal difference as Southampton have managed to concede 30 goals in 16 games, while Arsenal have scored an impressive 35 goals in the same time frame. However, Chelsea play Brighton away, which will also be a solid opportunity for three points and a few goals. The battle for third and fourth is extremely close between the three top London clubs, whereas Manchester United are off the pace by eight points, so Arsenal will be focused on what’s above them rather than beneath.

Southampton

Hasenhuttl has put his foot down early, stating his intentions of turning this club around. This was seen as he cancelled the Saints players day off after their defeat to Cardiff, bringing them in for a meeting and extra training. The move seemed to be received positively by the players, as a lot of them have already bought in to Hasenhuttl’s philosophy, which is potentially what the club needs at this point in their dismal season.

It’s no secret that Southampton’s defence has been atrocious this season, which can be partly blamed by the lack of consistency, having nine different CB combinations over the last 17 games. This leaves Hasenhuttl a tough task of deciding who to play in the heart of defence, which could be very difficult considering the individual and collective errors made. Vestergaard would have been a personal choice, however after his huge error against Cardiff his confidence may not be high enough to face the firepower of Arsenal.



Southampton’s attacking options are also something that Hasenhuttl has to worry about. With none of the strikers available hitting form, it really is hit and miss who is chosen. However, from a player’s point of view it should provide an opportunity to have a good performance and secure a place in the starting XI, which no-one has done, as of yet.

The two preferred full-backs for the Saints are in doubt. Bertrand is the most unlikely to play which will pave the way for Matt Targett, who has been one of Saints few attacking positives this season. Ings and Obefemi are also heavily in doubt through calf and hamstring injuries respectively. Judging on previous choices, Charlie Austin will lead the charge in hope of getting something from this game.

Arsenal

When signing Granit Xhaka in 2016, Wenger promised him that “If you want to enjoy your football, join us. Here is the paradise” and join he did. Xhaka now claims that Emery is making this paradise a reality, and with an unbeaten run of 21 games it would be difficult to disagree. He claims that the right midfield partner was essential for Arsenal, and potential signing of the season Lucas Torreira is the perfect match. Coupled with the firepower of Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang, the Gunners are looking like a serious threat.

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However, sitting behind Chelsea and Tottenham will not be the position they want at the end of the season. Manchester City and Liverpool almost look out of the question at this stage of the season already. So really third pace is up for grabs by one of the London clubs, and if Arsenal continue their run, it would be hard to argue that it is their position to lose.

Rob Holding will unfortunately not be featuring in this fixture due to an ACL injury, which means the Englishman could be out until next season, depending on the speed of his recovery. This could see Lichtsteiner slide in to the CB position as Arsenal could play five at the back with Bellerin and Monreal playing the wing-back position.

Predicted Starting XIs

Southampton (4-5-1) McCarthy; Cedric, Bednarek, Yoshida, Targett; Lemina, Romeu, Hojbjerg, Redmond, Armstrong; Austin
Arsenal: (5-3-2) Leno; Bellerin, Lichsteiner, Koscielny, Monreal, Kolasinac; Torreira, Xhaka, Mkhitaryan; Lacazette, Aubameyang.



Prediction: Southampton 1 Arsenal 4

While having a new manager normally increases a team’s chance of securing points, it is just far too farfetched to see Southampton beating this Arsenal team. With Saints’ lack of defensive solidarity combined with Arsenal’s front two, I can see the experienced strikers running the Saints defence ragged.

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