Arsenal vs Southampton
carl1984 > 10/09/2016, 10:27
Arsene Wenger has the fans on his back again. They have failed to keep pace with the spending of Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United this summer and haven’t made any massive signings. Shokdran Mustafi, Granit Xhaka, and Lucas Perez haven’t fit the bill as far as Arsenal fans are concerned, and their start to the Premier League campaign has been less than impressive as well.
They lost a 4-3 thriller at home to Liverpool on the opening day of the season, but it could’ve been much more humiliating for them when they were 4-1 down. They followed this with a polar opposite performance as they played out a goalless draw with Premier League champions Leicester.
Fortunately for Arsenal they did manage to get off the mark before the international break when first half goals from Santi Cazorla, Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil helped them to a 3-1 victory.
Southampton are struggling even more than their hosts though. They have lost a host of huge players during the summer including Sadio Mane, Victor Wanyama, and Graziano Pelle. Manager Ronald Koeman also left the club for Everton, which means big changes had to be made throughout the playing and coaching staff.
So far it hasn’t worked out for Claude Puel. They drew their opener 1-1 at home to Watford and followed it with a deserved 2-0 defeat at Old Trafford. Another 1-1 draw followed at home to Sunderland, so their seeming inability to beat the lower teams in the Premier League at home is causing some concern among the fans.
Arsenal’s defensive injuries are something that Southampton can take advantage of though. New signing Mustafi is expected to sit this one out with an injury, along with Per Mertesacker, Carl Jenkinson, and Gabriel Paulista. This means that another makeshift back line is likely to be fielded, and Southampton have scored in six of their last ten away days in the Premier League.
I can’t see the Saints keeping a clean sheet though and think this could be a rare red letter day for Arsenal's defence, so plumping for a 2-0 score line to Arsenal