Arsenal look to extend their unbeaten run in the Premier League when they host Southampton at the Emirates Stadium on Friday under the floodlights.
The Gunners have won four and drawn two of their last six games, the last two draws coming after painfully losing two-goal leads against Liverpool and West Ham. However, Arsenal are still top of the table but have Manchester City breathing down their neck and wouldn’t want to drop any points in the run-in to the Premier League title.
They face a Southampton side that is struggling for form and confidence, having lost four of their last five matches. The Saints are currently bottom of the table with 23 points from 31 matches.
The last time these two teams met was in October last year and it ended in a 1-all draw at St Mary’s Stadium. The Gunners have a slightly better record against the Saints in the Premier League, winning five of their last 10 matches (L2 D3).
While talking to the media today, Arsenal’s manager said tomorrow’s opponents have their own strengths and Arsenal have to be conscious of that.
“There is no team in this league that is easy to beat. They all have their strengths, and when you give them hope and belief and they play with their strengths, any team can beat you in the league and you have to be very conscious of that,” Arteta said.
The Spaniard also said that Arsenal have not been in this situation (fighting for the title) in a long time but they want go all the way by being more determined and playing with more passion.
“What we are playing for is something incredible. The club hasn’t fought for this position for a long, long time. It’s in our hands and we want to do it,” Arteta added.
Southampton manager Ruben Selles needs his players to step up and show some fight and resilience if they want to avoid relegation which looks more imminent every game that passes.
“If we play our game, we have options to win the game. We know what we can do if we can keep the performance as we did in the first half against Man City. It’s my job to pick [the players] up. While I’m still here I am going to pick them up and give them energy and give them knowledge. It’s not hard for me. I just need to be sure that everyone around me is still up,” Selles said in the pre-match press conference today.
Team news
Arteta said William Saliba is still far from returning to action, and Oleksandr Zinchenko still has a muscle problem that needs to be assessed ahead of the fixture. Everyone else is in good spirits for the match.
Southampton has more injury problems. Ché Adams is still out with a calf injury, Mohammed Salisu is also out with a pelvic bone problem as well as Juan Larios. Ainsley Maitland-Niles is ineligible to face his parent club since he is on Loan from Arsenal but the good news is that Mislav Oršić is back in contention for selection.
