Arsenal-Southampton is a match valid for the thirty-second day of the Premier League and is played on Friday at 9 pm: TV, predictions.
The thirty-second day of the Premier League begins with one of the most classic head-to-heads that Arsenal can in no way afford to miss. After two consecutive draws with Liverpool and West Ham, Manchester City has moved back to -4 with one match to spare and, more importantly, with the direct clash still to be played.
The Gunners, who for months now have been cherishing the idea of returning to win the title nineteen years after the last time, now run the serious risk of seeing it all slip away at the finest moment. The fight for the top of the standings, in short, is far from closed and the feeling is that everything is in the hands of Pep Guardiola’s team, which in a week’s time in what can be considered a sort of “play-off” has a chance to reset or at least further reduce the gap from the Londoners. In this round the Citizens were supposed to face Brighton, but the match was postponed for the FA Cup semifinal with Sheffield United. It will therefore be exclusively busy Arsenal, which hosts tail-end Southampton at the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal and the problem of “comebacks. “
Arteta’s lineup meanwhile realized it has a problem with comebacks. Against both Liverpool and West Ham it got two goals back. A concentration problem or a physical decline? The fact is that in the last eight games the Gunners’ defense has remained unbeaten on only one occasion.
Selles
As for the Saints, for salvation the last word is not yet said despite the very precarious position in the standings. In the lower reaches of the Premier League standings, distances remain minimal: despite three consecutive defeats to West Ham, City and Crystal Palace, the Ruben Selles-coached red-and-whites remained -4 from fourth-last-place Everton and can still hope. Southampton is unbeaten for two matches in a row with Arsenal, but the last visit to north London proved to be a half disaster, with the English capital club scrambling the south coast team 3-0.
The Prediction
At home Arsenal has been a steamroller this year, winning 12 out of 15 games. A Southampton back from three defeats should not create big problems for the leader, who now feels the breath on City’s neck and cannot commit any more missteps. We expect a prolific match, in which the Saints could also score.
The likely lineups of Arsenal-Southampton
- ARSENAL (4-3-3): Ramsdale; White, Holding, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Xhaka, Partey, Odegaard; Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus, Saka.
- SOUTHAMPTON (4-4-2): Bazunu; Perraud, Bednarek, Bella-Kotchap, Walker-Peters; Djenepo, Ward-Prowse, Lavia, Sulemana; Alcaraz, Onuachu.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 3-1
