Arsenal vs Southampton. Prediction and Preview. Probable Lineups, Team News, Stats and more

Arsenal FC will host Southampton FC in the English Premier League 32nd-tour match at Emirates Stadium. The fixture will take place on Saturday, April 22, beginning at 00:30 IST.

What can we expect this Saturday night? Parimatch News will tell you everything you need to know ahead of the upcoming match.

Arsenal News & Current Form:

Arsenal are fighting for their first English title since 2004. The Gunners have been leading the Premier League for many months now, but they are under threat from Manchester City. Arteta’s charges are now only 4 points ahead of the Citizens, but the Mancunians have 1 game to spare. Should they lose points in the upcoming match, there is a chance of losing the lead in the championship race. After 7 wins in a row, the Londoners have missed out on precious points in the last two rounds.

Arsenal stumbled against Liverpool FC (2 – 2) and West Ham United FC last weekend (2 – 2). Having dropped out of all other competitions, Mikel Arteta’s charges are solely focused on the final stretch of the championship. The Gunners have the second best home record in the league this season, picking up 38 points in 15 meetings at the Emirates. 

It is worth noting that the draws against Liverpool and West Ham have been frustrating for Arsenal. In both cases, they were leading 2 – 0 as the game wore on, but failed to hold on to the lead. In the game with the Merseysiders, Oleksandr Zinchenko made an embarrassing mistake. The Ukrainian allowed himself to be mockingly beaten on the flank and crossed, which led to a goal.

Granit Xhaka, Martin Odegaard and Eddie Nketiah after a draw with West Ham United FC

In the encounter with West Ham, Arteta’s men were in complete control. They created many more chances and had more ball possession. The visitors managed to score twice by the 10th minute of the derby, but it all went wrong. At the beginning of the second period, the scoreline was already equal. In the 52nd minute, the Gunners could have put 3 – 1 on the scoreboard. However, Bukayo Saka failed to convert the spot-kick. The opponents responded immediately. On 54 minutes, Jarrod Bowen scored.

Very soon, Arsenal will face Manchester City, and this game is likely to be decisive. There’s no way the Gunners can approach it with the attitude they have now. Will Mikel Arteta be able to find the right words to give extra motivation to his charges and beat Southampton?

Matches with the Saints are traditionally difficult for the team. Of their last 5 head-to-head encounters, 2 have been won and 2 lost. In this encounter, the home side are sure to attack hard. If the Londoners are serious about staying in 1st place, they simply must beat the underdog.

Mohamed Elneny, William Saliba (long-term absentee), Takehiro Tomiyasu and Zinchenko, who has a groin injury, will not be able to play today.

“Zinchenko’s situation is as uncertain as Saliba’s. We will be watching Oleksandr. He needs time to recover. He has a rather nasty muscle injury. It is too early to talk about his return”,

said coach about Ukranian’s player return.

Coach Arteta about contributions of Rob Holding and Kieran Tierney to  the team’s game:

“Their contribution is huge. First of all the way they behave around the team, how patient they have been, and when they have to play what they have produced in terms of performances. Now, they are playing more games, they are playing more minutes and will continue to do so.”

“This is why you need top-quality players with the right mentality to be ready when you need them – on the pitch, and when you are not using them that much on the pitch, to contribute to the team in the right way. Those two are great examples of that.”

Don`t miss out 👉: Bengaluru vs Jamshedpur: Preview and Prediction

Southampton News & Current Form: 

This team is having a frankly disappointing season. Southampton are currently in 20th place in the standings. The gap from the saving 17th position is 4 points. And in terms of play, the Saints do not look monolithic.

In 31 appearances in the сhampionship, the club has achieved only six victories and drawn five times. The players have scored only 24 goals – no other club has fewer. They have conceded 53 goals themselves. This team is considered Arsenal’s most comfortable opponent. At the moment, they are considered to be the main contenders for relegation to the Championship.

The recent change of head coach did not help Southampton. For a while, it came alive and even managed to claw back a draw against Manchester United FC (0 – 0). Although it was to the club’s advantage that the Red Devils’ leader Casemiro was red carded in the 34th minute.

Top scorer of Southampton FC – Che Adams

But the players’ energy was short-lived. In the last five rounds, they have not registered a single win. There was only one draw, against Tottenham Hotspur FC (3 – 3), at their home stadium.

The previous round of the championship brought the team another disappointment. Southampton lost 0 – 2 to Crystal Palace FC. If the game before the break was about even, the hosts’ inattention in the first half of the second 45 minutes cost them two conceded goals, which they failed to respond to. After the game, manager Ruben Selles admitted that with seven games to go before the end of the season, it was becoming increasingly difficult for his side to get out of the bottom of the table.

But despite such sad successes, Southampton have been quite strong away recently. They have conceded just two goals on aggregate in their last four away games in the league, although just one goal themselves in their last five away games shows why they have failed to turn those strong defensive performances into points on the scoreboard. The Saints have serious problems with attack building and implementation.

Che Adams, Mohammed Salisu, Mislav Oršić and Juan Larios, who has a muscular injury, will not be out today.

Arsenal form guide: W-L-W-W-D-D

Southampton form guide: D-L-D-L-L-L

Arsenal vs Southampton Head-To-Head Record: 

• June 25, 2020: Southampton 0 – 2 Arsenal (Premier League);
• December 16, 2020: Arsenal 1 – 1 Southampton (Premier League);
• January 23, 2021: Southampton 1 – 0  Arsenal (FA Cup);
• January 26, 2021: Southampton 1 – 3 Arsenal (Premier League);
• December 11, 2021: Arsenal 3 – 0 Southampton (Premier League);
• April 16, 2022: Southampton 1 – 0 Arsenal (Premier League);
• October 23, 2022: Southampton 1 – 1 Arsenal (Premier League).

Arsenal vs Southampton Predicted XI:

Arsenal possible starting lineup (4-3-3): Ramsdale; White, Holding, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Xhaka, Thomas, Odegaard; Martinelli, Jesus, Saka.

Southampton possible starting lineup (4-2-3-1): Bazunu; Perraud, Bednarek, Bella-Kotchap, Walker-Peters; Djenepo, Ward-Prowse, Lavia, Sulemana; Alcaraz, Onuachu.

Statistical preview of the match Arsenal vs Southampton:

• Arsenal’s First XI average age is 25.8 yrs.
• Southampton’s First XI average age is 24.9 yrs.
• Arsenal are unbeaten in 10 of their last 12 matches.
• Southampton are losing their last 3 games.
• Arsenal are unbeaten in their last 5 games at home against this foe.
• Arsenal are conceding an average of 1.40 goals per game in their last 5 games.
• Southampton have scored an average of 0.80 goals per game in their last 5 games.
• Southampton conceded an average of 2.40 goals per game in their last 5 games.
• Arsenal are scoring an average of 2.60 goals per game in their last 5 games.
• Arsenal’s top scorers: Gabriel Martinelli (14+6), Bukayo Saka (13+10), Martin Odegaard (11+7), Gabriel Jesus (9+6).
• The Saints’ top scorers: Che Adams (10+3), James Ward-Prowse (9+3), Romain Perraud (4+2).

What has been said before the match:

The Gunners’ coach Mikel Arteta about recent failures, how it affected the team:

“I’m very confident. Twists and turns are part of anything you do, especially in football. Whatever the aim or the target is, it is not going to go in a linear progression. You have to know that and prepare for that and the way the team reacted this week is incredibly positive and we want to see that tomorrow night.”

“My players today are really looking forward to tomorrow, to get the game that we want and the result that we want, and play in front of our crowd again. There are seven games left and we have four games to play at the Emirates which is a big thing, and we’re looking forward to it.”

“Every game is an opportunity to improve as a team and every game has different gifts. Those gifts are what you take, what you learn and how you improve as a team. We have another gift tomorrow and we have to take it the way we want to.”

About the title race with Manchester City, he said:

“I wouldn’t like to compare with Man City, we have to focus on what we have, and the reason why we have dropped those points. I think they were two different games in my opinion, and the game would have changed if we scored the penalty, it’s a different game.”

“The margins are so, so small in this league and they have to go your way to get the results that you want, or sometimes the results that you deserve.”

The Saints’ coach Ruben Selles is desperate for good results:

“It has been desperate from the very first second. The only thing is we are running out of time and the games are less and less in our account.”

“We put in some good performances but we didn’t transform those into points and hopefully we can change and then start to get some points together with some good performances. If we play our game and put in the performance that we need, we have options to win the game.”

“We have a good team in front of us but almost every week we have good teams in front.”

“I don’t make my lineup or my actions in terms of what anybody else thinks…it is not about having one nine who can score the goals, you need to create the situations you need to be competitive and be in the game until you can score that goal.”

“I understand the concern that some players have been scoring goals in some different environments, as our boys did it in other teams, but this is a completely different challenge, the solution isn’t to put one, two, three, or four strikers, the solution is the situations we create playing as a team we need to score as a team. and this is not about one name.”

Arsenal vs Southampton Prediction:

Arsenal have been excellent in the last nine rounds. It is only two draws that spoil the overall picture, but Arteta will surely derive lessons from them. In this encounter, the leader, who is overpowering the underdog in every line and rotation, can ensure not only three points with their dominant performance but also a bright, confident victory and a scoring extravaganza, which is so essential for belief in the title race against the monstrous City of Guardiola. Furthermore, we think that the visitors have absolutely nothing to lose and will go straight into the attack to try and stun the slightly destabilized Gunners to clinch the 3 points, although it’s certainly worth noting that Southampton have lost four of their last five games and scored just four goals in them. Possibly Ramsdale can finally celebrate a clean sheet to improve his status as an EPL Golden Glove contender.

Don`t miss out 👉: NorthEast United seals the qualification berth from Group D, Mumbai City miss out on the semis

Parimatch News staff prediction:

We say: Arsenal will win with 0 conceded goals while scoring in the first half and the match total will be over 2.5 – Yes.