(4-2-1-3) Mikel Merino debut”, Confirmed Arsenal line up vs Southampton – we’re surely winning this today

admin_403zj633October 5, 2024Last Updated: October 5, 2024

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Undefeated hosts meet winless visitors in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon, as Arsenal and Southampton cross paths at the Emirates Stadium.

The Gunners return to top-flight action on the back of a 2-0 Champions League victory over Paris Saint-Germain, one day after the Saints were swept aside 3-1 by South Coast rivals Bournemouth.

Match preview
While PSG may still be dominating domestically in the post-Kylian Mbappe era, the French champions dearly lacked that attacking X-factor at the Emirates Stadium in midweek, where two goalkeeping gaffes from Gianluigi Donnarumma did Arsenal plenty of favours too.

The Euro 2020 winner firstly came for a Leandro Trossard cross and missed, allowing Kai Havertz to prolong his hot streak in front of goal at the Emirates, before Bukayo Saka got one over his penalty nemesis with a free kick that evaded everyone en route to goal.

Often reserved even after a statement victory, Mikel Arteta’s relaxed and cheery demeanour at full time said it all as Arsenal marched to their third home win on the spin, and a much more straightforward one than their six-goal spectacular against Leicester City last weekend.

Arsenal’s latest injury-time extravaganza has the Gunners in the bronze medal position in the table – only one point behind Liverpool and Manchester City – and their unbeaten run in all tournaments now stands at 15 games since April’s Champions League exit at the hands of Bayern Munich.

Thanks to their late show against Leicester, Arsenal are within touching distance of a significant Premier League milestone; victory on Saturday would be their 400th at home in the Premier League, a feat only Manchester United (426) have already achieved.

As Arsenal close in on that top-flight landmark, Southampton head to the Emirates having lost a staggering 246 away games in the Premier League – the fifth-most in the competition’s history – and Russell Martin almost looked resigned to his fate in the Saints’ latest road failure.

Pitted against South Coast counterparts Bournemouth, the Saints were blown away in the opening 45 minutes as Evanilson, Antoine Semenyo and Dango Ouattara found the mark, and even though Taylor Harwood-Bellis pulled one back early in the second, there would be no magnificent Martin turnaround.

Southampton are only being kept off the foot of the table by Wolverhampton Wanderers and their slightly inferior goal difference, although the club have supposedly not made a unanimous decision on the future of the under-pressure Martin, who is still backed in some corners.

However, an Emirates embarrassment could put the promotion-winning manager on the cusp of the sack, and he would do well to prioritise attacking ruthlessness before Saturday’s game; the Saints’ paltry conversion rate of 4.4% is the worst of its kind in the 2024-25 Premier League season.

The travelling army can take some solace from their team’s three-game unbeaten run against Arsenal, who had to pull off a trademark 2023 turnaround to draw 3-3 with Southampton in this fixture two seasons ago, but not since the Highbury days of 1987 have the Saints beaten the Gunners in a league fixture away from home

Team News
Arteta’s full-back crisis is showing no signs of easing anytime soon, as Oleksandr Zinchenko (calf), Kieran Tierney (hamstring) and Takehiro Tomiyasu (knee) are all expected to miss this game, while Ben White (groin) and Jurrien Timber (muscle) are fresh doubts.

The latter only lasted until half time in the win over PSG, where Mikel Merino made his debut as a second-half substitute following his bizarre shoulder fracture, and the Spaniard will no doubt push for a first start over Thomas Partey this weekend.

The hosts are still coping without captain Martin Odegaard (ankle) as well, but home is where the heart is for his deputy Havertz, who could become the first Arsenal player since Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in 2019 to score in five straight Premier League games at the Emirates.

Arsenal are not the only ones to have suffered a defensive blow on Tuesday, as Saints defender Jack Stephens has been banned for a further two games for using insulting language after being sent off against Manchester United, taking his total suspension up to five games.

Will Smallbone has a slim chance of coming back from his thigh concern in time for the trip to North London, though, but Gavin Bazunu (Achilles) and Kamaldeen Sulemana (ankle) remain out of contention.

Ex-Arsenal shot-stopper Aaron Ramsdale is set to become the ninth goalkeeper to play against the Gunners in the Premier League after previously representing them, but only one of the previous eight has kept a clean sheet in their first game against their former club, Emiliano Martinez for Aston Villa in 2020.

Arsenal possible starting lineup:
Raya; Calafiori, Saliba, Gabriel, Kiwior; Havertz, Partey, Rice; Saka, Trossard, Martinelli

Southampton possible starting lineup:
Ramsdale; Sugawara, Harwood-Bellis, Bednarek, Taylor; Downes, Aribo, Lallana; Fernandes; Dibling, Brereton Diaz