Southampton Vs Arsenal

Southampton Vs Arsenal
St Mary's Stadium
17:30 BST Kick Off
Referee: Lee Probert


On a roll

When you hit the rock bottom, the only way then is upwards. This was proved out to be right after the defeat against Bradford where many thought that, that was the worst match of our lives and the light at the end of the tunnel was extremely dim. But then good teams bounce back from the very low and subsequently, heroes are born. What ever may have happened in the Capital One Cup, it is somewhere far far behind us. The main reason for that is the PL winning streak which is now stretched over to 4 games and of course, the return of Jack Wilshere who is nearly there along with the obvious factor also named as Theo Walcott. Much has been said about Theo in the past week and after his hattrick against Newcastle, the feedback is getting better and better. However despite that, it must be said that Arsenal's overall play is much better than it was. We are finally gelling together in the new system and with the new players. Like Wenger said last night, "We had to rebuild a team and we have done it. [It] demands some time and some understanding. How good are we? It will be decided in the next four or five months"


A tale of Saints

Southampton are a weird team. When you actually watch them, the attacking fluid football captures your thoughts and makes you think that why are they in the relegation zone with so many decent players. But then you see their defending and say, Ah that's why. Adkins could have very well given up on his ideology of attacking football months ago but he didn't. He is like Arsene in a way, specially if you remember that drubbing at O.T where Wenger still went with the attacking football till the very last minute. Adkins has not changed his style since the 1st game. He could have very well made them play defensive like most teams do to survive but yet he continues to prefer playing the right way and that does warrant respect. The point is that Southampton always create chances, and they can always hurt you. Most teams do take advantage of their feeble defence and come back like Stoke did last game but that depends on the opposition who take their chances. Arsenal are infamous for not doing exactly that, and we should really win the game tomorrow but even the most optimistic Arsenal fans know that it isn't always easy and the games against Norwich, Bradford and Swansea comes to mind.

Team News

Southampton skipper Adam Lallana remains an injury worry having not played since December 8 because of a knee problem.
Gaston Ramirez could return to the starting line-up after being left on the bench against Stoke. Clyne may or may not be fit

Arsenal's Per Mertesacker should be available after recovering from illness.

Probable Arsenal Team

-------------------------------------------Szczesny----------------------------------------

Sagna---------------------Mertesacker----------------Vermaelen-------------------Gibbs

----------------------------Wilshere----------------Arteta--------------------------------

Oxlade----------------------------------Cazorla------------------------------Podolski

--------------------------------Walcott--------------------------------------------------

I would stick with the same lineup but having played late saturday night, maybe Wenger might go with few changes. Giroud can start as well after looking quite sharp against Newcastle. Maybe Ramsey may start at RW (trololol) or even Gervais at LW (trololol x2 )


Probable Southampton Lineup

---------------------------------------Davis--------------------------------------------

Yoshida---------------------Hooiveld------------Fonte------------------------Shaw

Ramirez--------------------Schneiderlin----------Cork----------------------Puncheon

------------------------Rodriguez--------------Lambert-----------------------------


Match Facts - BBC

Head-to-head

• Southampton have only won two of their last 10 home matches against Arsenal in the Premier League (W2, D3, L5).
  
• The Gunners won 6-1 in this season's reverse fixture and are vying to beat Southampton home and away in the same Premier League campaign for the sixth time.

Southampton

• They have only won one of their last five matches, averaging a point per game during that spell.
  
• Southampton have only taken two points from nine games against top-half opposition.
  
• The Saints have kept just two clean sheets this season and conceded more goals (37) than any side other than Aston Villa.
  
• Rickie Lambert is the joint-second highest scoring Englishman in the Premier League this season with eight goals. Only Jermain Defoe (10) has more.

Arsenal

• Arsenal have won a record six Premier League matches on New Year's Day, including their last four. Their only defeat on 1 January was at Charlton in 2001.
  
• They are unbeaten when scoring first in the league this season, winning seven games and drawing two.
  
• Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain made 44 first-team appearance for Southampton between 2010 and 2011, while Theo Walcott remains the youngest player to play for the Saints, aged 16 years and 13 days. He scored five goals in only 13 starts to earn a move to Arsenal for a revised £9.1m in January 2006.
  
• Lukas Podolski has scored (four) or set-up (four) eight goals in his last eight Premier League appearances.

Final Words

Hopefully we can win 5th in a row and get some serious momentum going. Need to perform as well as we did in the 2nd half against Newcastle

I expect Theo to start on the right with Giroud up front after both scored against Newcastle, but no matter who starts, our chances of scoring are quite good against one of the worst defences in the league. If we play well defensively, we should kick off 2013 with a comfortable win.

My worry for this game is that we simply won't press as hard or play with as much urgency as we did in the second half against Newcastle because we've only had a couple days of rest. Following up high-energy performances with lethargic performances has been a common occurrence with us.

This game will be tough because Southampton are a side who will have a go. They've got some good attackers and can hurt us in more than one way. Lambert will be a handful for Vermaelen, while Gibbs or Sagna will have a tough time against Puncheon.

As I've said before, if we play like the superior team that we are right now, we'll win this game. Southamtpon have poor defenders who will struggle to cope with any decent attack that plays well.

Team selection should be interesting since we have an FA Cup game this weekend, so we might not see any rotation until then with the league being the priority and all. I don't think Giroud will start despite his cameo against Newcastle, because that would mean moving Walcott back to the right hand side and I can't see Wenger doing that when Walcott has just scored a hat-trick. Mertesacker will probably come back in for Koscielny. Other than that, it'll probably be the same team. Hopefully they won't be "jaded" and "lack sharpness".

It's very important we pick up another win here since January is a tough month. We need some good momentum going into the games against City, Chelsea and Liverpool.

with tougher games coming up we cant afford to drop points in this game..
with a 7-3 in the last game, this fixture may look an easy one.. but lets not take it that way and slip..
I would start Giroud as CF and Walcott at RW.. Also give Rosicky a start if he is fit.. As Jay said we should show more energy in our game rather than starting slowly and panicking after 60 mins.. a bit of presure can spoil their game.. and it will be an easy win if we dont concede making silly mistakes...

Excellent work RG

Thankfully our game is late kick off so i can get home but most likely miss earlier PL matches

They are unbeaten when scoring first in the league this season, winning seven games and drawing two.

GOAT stat
importance of scoring 1st

Great Job RG.

A must win game, start of the new year with 3 points and hope for new players to join us.

I know Wenger will keep the same line up, no changes, which is fine with me.Theo will burn his old team again and hope Santi and Giroud get on score sheet also.

The good thing is I will watch all the EPL games, I have to be at work for 8am, but wont be able to out tonight though.

Gunners will win this I reckon, they all know they cannot afford to lose any points and senior players like Mikel Arteta and leaders like Jack Wilshere will remind the whole team. Tired or not, the players know they cannot afford to be anything less than 150% and they know they have the talent to perform.

We usually perform well against teams that play attacking footballs, so there's that. Theo will have to rip their defence apart with his speed which he now compliments with superb dribbling. Ox is tireless and his trickery with the ball at his feet is invaluable. Podolski will be his usual self.

Cazorla will make magic against Southampton, they cannot dedicate too many players to mark him if they want to play the way they play, and whether they do or don't it's a win-win for Arsenal. Southampton playing an unfamiliar game plan will be difficult for them and we will have the upper hand. Leaving a player like Cazorla with less than two markers also gives us the upper hand because he is JUST that good. Jack the Ripper will do what he usually does and get the ball and drive through.

To the defence, Gibbs will supply the attack like usual, which DOES leave some space in the back to be exploited but against a team like Southampton, I don't think that will be a worry because they'll have so much to do.

It's amazing how Puncheon was a Barnet player a few years ago, and even MK Dons. I like him a lot.

I think we'll win by at least a three goal difference, but that's hopeful thinking. COYG.

As Ali said, tactically we must be in a better position to win this one than many other games..

Nice work RG.

Should win, but have a feeling it'll be a tough one. Good news about Lallana being out.

I wish wenger tried a new formation next game, just to see how two upfront would work with Lukas and Santi on the wings, maybe even a 3-5-2

It's only 48 hours since we played so I'm expecting a few changes.

I think the team could look like this:

Szczesney

Jenkinson Mertersacker Vermaelen Santos

Coquelin Ramsey

Gervinho Cazorla Podolski

Giroud

Would be worrying, but it depends how sharp the players are.

I'm hoping that they are ok and we name a 4-4-2 with Giroud and Walcott together up front.

Hoping for:

Szcesney

Sagna Mertersackser Vermaelen Gibbs

Ox Wilshere Arteta Cazorla

Walcott Giroud

Arteta and Gibbs could do with a rest aswell, but can't think of anyone who could do a job.

This team should be enough to win this game. Walcott can move to the right here and there and make it a 4-2-3-1.

Coquelin Love

Sagna should spend some time on the bench, he looked out of his depth on Saturday.
One of Arteta-Cazorla should get some rest. They pressed quite hard against Newcastle so fatigue is imminent.

Our front 3 seems to click at the moment so I see no reason to break it apart.

Ps. Great job as always RG.

Great preview RG :], consistency is key for us this year because without it we WILL fall behind.

If we drop points today the CL will become a long way off because I'm not too confident considering the fixtures we have this month.