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Arsenal vs Southampton preview, how to watch, team news, line-ups and prediction

By on October 3, 2024

gabriel martinelli arsenal

Arsenal are back in Premier League action this weekend as we host Southampton at the Emirates Stadium at 3pm on Saturday afternoon.

We warmed up for the game with an impressive 2-0 victory over Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday night. Kai Havertz put a dominant Arsenal ahead midway through the first half before Bukayo Saka’s 35th minute free-kick evaded everybody in the area to made it 2-0. PSG improved after the break but they couldn’t force their way through a rock solid Arsenal defence so we eased to a 2-0 victory.

Having drawn away to Atalanta on Matchday one, Arsenal now have four points from our opening two Champions League matches, which is a good return considering we’ve played two of our hardest games. So we’re well on course to reaching the knockout rounds of the competition, even at this early stage.

However, we need to put European football to the back of our minds and focus on the Premier League title race. Arsenal maintained their unbeaten start to the new season with a dramatic 4-2 victory over Leicester City at the Emirates last weekend.

We were superb in the first half and fully deserved our 2-0 lead thanks to goals from a rejuvenated Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard. Leicester pulled one back from nowhere early in the second half after James Justin’s header deflected off Havertz and past David Raya. Justin then stunned the home crowd with a stunning volley to make it 2-2 and suddenly Arsenal were faced with the prospect of dropping two valuable points.

Thankfully, Trossard’s back-post effort deflected off Wilfred Ndidi into the net in the 94th minute to restore Arsenal lead and Havertz made it 4-2 with a last gasp goal in the 99th minute to secure all three points. The result leaves Arsenal sitting third in the Premier League table – level with Manchester City and just one point adrift of leaders Liverpool.

Mikel Arteta will hope to sign-off before the international break with another win when Southampton come to North London this weekend. Anything other than victory would be a disaster for a team with title ambitions, so we cannot afford to slip up on Saturday afternoon.

The Saints have endured a torrid time since returning to the top flight as they sit joint bottom of the table with just one point from their six games so far. Southampton were beaten 3-1 away to Bournemouth last time out and they need to start picking up points soon if they want to stand a chance of avoiding a swift return to the Championship.

How to watch

The game hasn’t been selected for live broadcast and due to the blackout rule on 3pm Saturday games, the match won’t be on TV anywhere in the UK this weekend.

Therefore, the only [legal] way to follow all the action as it happens is to be in the stands at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday. Tickets for the game can be purchased through the official club channels or via trusted resellers such as Seatsnet.com.

Team news

Arsenal will still be without influential skipper Martin Odegaard as he’s still recovering from an ankle ligament injury that he picked up during the September international break. The Norwegian international is expected to be out for at least another 2-3 weeks with Arteta hoping to have his captain available again towards the end of October.

Oleksandr Zinchenko is also still unavailable as he’s nursing a troublesome calf injury that’s plagued him recently. The left-back won’t be in contention to face Southampton but will hope to use the international break to get himself fit ahead of Arsenal’s trip to Bournemouth on October 19th.

Takehiro Tomiyasu has returned to light training but he’ll require a late fitness test to see if he’s available to make his return this weekend. Arteta may hope the Japanese international is available as Arsenal are facing a potential injury crisis in the full-back positions. Ben White has missed the last three games with a knee injury and remains a doubt this weekend while Jurrien Timber needs to be assessed after being forced off at half-time with a muscle issue against PSG. With Kieran Tierney ruled out with a thigh injury, Arsenal could be without five full-backs this weekend.

As for Southampton, they’ll be without Gavin Bazunu due to a calf injury while Kamaldeen Sulemana, Jack Stephens and William Smallbone are also set to miss the trip to the capital.

Likely Line-ups

Arsenal are unlikely to make too many changes from the side that beat PSG in midweek. David Raya will keep goal once again while William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes will continue their superb partnership in the middle of defence.

Riccardo Calafiori showed no sign of discomfort after completing the full ninety minutes against PSG having appeared to pick up a knee knock against Leicester. He should be fit to keep his place but the Italian may be forced to play at right-back if White and Timber are ruled out. Jacub Kiwior is on stand-by to come in at left-back.

Mikel Merino made his debut off the bench against PSG after recovering from a shoulder injury but he’s unlikely to start just yet. Thomas Partey will therefore keep his place in the holding role after an excellent display in midweek.

Declan Rice will start once again while Leandro Trossard could keep his place in the attacking midfield role with Odegaard still out. Although some Arsenal fans would love to see Ethan Nwaneri given a start after some impressive cameo’s lately.

Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli are expected to keep their places on the wings while Kai Havertz will look to continue his impressive form as he leads the line up front for the Gunners this weekend.

The big news for Southampton is that Aaron Ramsdale is set to face-off against his former club after completing a move to the south coast in the summer.

Likely Arsenal XI: Raya; Calafiori, Saliba, Gabriel, Kiwior; Partey, Rice, Trossard; Saka, Havertz, Martinelli

Likely Southampton XI:  Ramsdale; Sugawara, Harwood-Bellis, Bednarek, Taylor; Downes, Aribo, Lallana; Fernandes; Dibling, Brereton Diaz

Prediction

Understandably, Arsenal are the heavy favourites to collect all three points this weekend and we’ll be confident of beating Southampton on home soil. The visitors possession-based style of play could suit Arsenal and we should have far too much quality in attack when we get on the ball.

Our rock solid defence should also be more than capable of keeping out a Southampton side who’ve only scored three goals in their six games so far. Arsenal 3-0 Southampton