Having accumulated just 51 points from 31 games this season, Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal have no chance of finishing in the top-4 but the manager has his plans to avoid missing out on Champions League football for two consecutive years. The comprehensive victory over CSKA Moscow earlier in the week has put Arsenal in a decent position to go all the way in the Europa League this season but they will certainly have one eye on finishing the domestic league season on a strong note.
They beat Stoke City in the previous round of the Premier League and are back in action tomorrow when they welcome a struggling Southampton side to Emirates on Sunday. The Saints, who have not won for over two months now, are currently in the 18th place in the points table, two points off safety. They need to start picking up points quickly but the fact that they have not beaten the Gunners in their last 22 trips to Emirates is a sad reading for a Saints fan.
Arsenal are on a good run of five back to back wins in all competitions and will believe that they can take all three points from this tie. They travel to Moscow early next week and Wenger might be tempted to rest a few of his key players for that Europa League clash but have enough depth in their squad to see off this tie.
Southampton can move up to 15th, if they can upset Arsenal in this tie but going by recent form, there can only be one winner in this game. Here is the team news, predicted lineups, prediction and betting odds for this game:
Team News:
Arsenal:
The Gunners will be without the services of Santi Cazorla, who is a long-term absentee. David Ospina picked up a niggle and is ruled out of this game while Henrikh Mkhitaryan is also not expected to be fit enough to take on Southampton this weekend.
Expected lineup (4-2-3-1):
Cech; Bellerin, Chambers, Holding, Kolasinac; Elneny, Ramsey; Iwobi, Ozil, Welbeck; Aubameyang
Southampton:
The Saints do not have any absentees for this game against Arsenal. Steve Davis is back in training and is up for selection while Mario Lemina, who picked up a niggle recently, is expected to undergo a late fitness test just before the game.
Expected lineup (4-4-2 ):
McCarthy; Soares, Stephens, Hoedt, Bertrand; Tadic, Romeu, Hojbjerg, Redmond; Austin, Gabbiadini.
Betting Odds:
Arsenal – 11/20
Draw – 7/2
Southampton – 11/2
Predictions:
Arsenal 2-1 Southampton