By Bulldog Drummond
So continuing from the first part of our preview of Sunday’s game, (Arsenal have won 5 in a row, BUT PLEASE DON’T TELL ANYONE) as we are playing Southampton, let’s see how they are getting on, and of course as we normally do the last ten, that’s what we will compare.
| Date | Game | Res | Score | Competition |
| 27 Jan 2018 | Southampton v Watford | W | 1-0 | FA Cup |
| 31 Jan 2018 | Southampton v Brighton | D | 1-1 | Premier League |
| 03 Feb 2018 | West Bromwich v Southampton | W | 2-3 | Premier League |
| 11 Feb 2018 | Southampton v Liverpool | L | 0-2 | Premier League |
| 17 Feb 2018 | West Bromwich v Southampton | W | 1-2 | FA Cup |
| 24 Feb 2018 | Burnley v Southampton | D | 1-1 | Premier League |
| 03 Mar 2018 | Southampton v Stoke City | D | 0-0 | Premier League |
| 10 Mar 2018 | Newcastle United v Southampton | L | 3-0 | Premier League |
| 18 Mar 2018 | Wigan Athletic v Southampton | W | 0-2 | FA Cup |
| 31 Mar 2018 | West Ham v Southampton | L | 3-0 | Premier League |
Southampton’s last 10 reveals four wins three draws and three defeats. But notably there is only one win in the last five – and that in the FA Cup. They have not won any of their last five games in the Premier League and in fact their last PL victory was against the mighty West Brom.
So they will be concerned about their league position and trying to forget about the FA Cup.
Here’s how things stand at the foot of the table…
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | Huddersfield Town | 32 | 8 | 7 | 17 | 25 | 53 | -28 | 31 |
| 17 | Crystal Palace | 32 | 7 | 9 | 16 | 31 | 50 | -19 | 30 |
| 18 | Southampton | 31 | 5 | 13 | 13 | 29 | 47 | -18 | 28 |
| 19 | Stoke City | 32 | 6 | 9 | 17 | 29 | 61 | -32 | 27 |
| 20 | West Bromwich Albion | 32 | 3 | 11 | 18 | 25 | 51 | -26 | 20 |
They have the game in hand, but do need to start winning quickly to avoid relegation.
Arsenal have six wins and four defeats from the last ten as you will know…
| Date | Match | Res | Score | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 Feb 2018 | Östersunds FK v Arsenal | W | 0-3 | Europa League |
| 22 Feb 2018 | Arsenal v Östersunds FK | L | 1-2 | Europa League |
| 25 Feb 2018 | Arsenal v Manchester City | L | 0-3 | League Cup |
| 01 Mar 2018 | Arsenal v Manchester City | L | 0-3 | Premier League |
| 04 Mar 2018 | Brighton and Hove v Arsenal | L | 2-1 | Premier League |
| 08 Mar 2018 | AC Milan v Arsenal | W | 0-2 | Europa League |
| 11 Mar 2018 | Arsenal v Watford | W | 3-0 | Premier League |
| 15 Mar 2018 | Arsenal v AC Milan | W | 3-1 | Europa League |
| 01 Apr 2018 | Arsenal v Stoke City | W | 3-0 | Premier League |
| 05 Apr 2018 | Arsenal v CSKA Moscow | W | 4-1 | Europa League |
So now, continuing our usual feature of home and away results, Arsenal remain third in the home game league table with 42 goals scored at home – something only beaten by Manchester City.
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester City | 15 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 51 | 10 | 41 | 43 |
| 2 | Manchester United | 16 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 35 | 7 | 28 | 41 |
| 3 | Arsenal | 16 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 42 | 17 | 25 | 38 |
| 4 | Liverpool | 16 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 38 | 10 | 28 | 36 |
| 5 | Tottenham Hotspur | 15 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 31 | 9 | 22 | 34 |
Southampton as an away force shows that they have only won two away games in the league all season and drawn six. Our record is of course not much better, but that need not concern us too much as we have home advantage and are on a positive run.
Southampton have scored 13 goals away from home and conceded 26 in their 15 away games in the league. Our figures therefore suggest a scoreline of just under 3-1 to Arsenal, and their figures suggest a scoreline of 2-1 to Arsenal – it ought to be one of those two.
Southampton are however a passing team – or at least have been until their most recent change of management, being 7th in terms of the number of passes each team has made – just behind Manchester United. But where they fall down is in keeping clean sheets – they have only done this in six league games this season. Only Bournemouth and Stoke have worse records in that regard.
Which of course suggests that if Ramsey and Aubameyang are on fire, and with Lacazette at least on the beach if not playing from the start we should be able to give them a few things to consider.
As for the injury update, Mkhitaryan will be out for a while but we don’t know how long, Ospina looks to be out for the rest of the month, and Maitland-Niles is out for about a week. With Santi Caz being counted as well, that leaves us 12th in the league table from Physioroom.
Meanwhile Sports Mole has the headline that “Southampton boss Mark Hughes urges players to fight against relegation” which in other circumstances we might have considered to be nothing other than rhetoric, but when it comes from Hughes, it could be a cause for concern.
More anon.
From Untold Arsenal
- Arsenal have won 5 in a row, BUT PLEASE DON’T TELL ANYONE
- 51 players tipped to be joining Arsenal this summer. We’re almost half way there.
From the Arsenal History Society
- When Arsenal asked Tottenham to change the date of a game, and they said no
- Arsenal quiz of the week
- Arsenal in November 1921: the fog, the goal rush, the resignation.
I believe Arsenal will compound Southampton already precarious 18th position in the table to further sink them into relegation by inflicting a heavy defeat on them in the Premier League match between the Gunners and the Saints at the Emirates Stadium tomorrow Sunday.
And importantly, let Le Boss not think that because Arsenal will be having an Europa League Cup match date against CSKA Moscow to honour next Thursday night, that will make him to field a rotated weaken Gunners team to play against Southampton. If he does this, the Saints could capitalise on a weaken Gunners team as they are still fighting against the drop to take all points in the match unexpectedly. Besides, the Gunners strongest regular first team game starters are professionals able to recover fully game fit within 3 days after playing against the Staints to play efficiently against CSKA and beat them in their backyard.
My 4-1-4-1 Arsenal starts and 7 on the bench Gunners for the match are as per below.
Starts:
————————-Cech—————————-
Bellerin–Chambers–Mustafi–Monreal
Ramsey—-Wilshere–Oezil—-Kolasinac
————Aubameyang–Welbeck————
Bench:
Macey Holding Koscielny Maitland ElNeny Iwobi Nketiah.
Sorry, I ment to type, My Arsenal 4-1-4-2 starts which looks like 4-4-2 starts and not 4-1-4-1 starts as it has appeared in my above comment. Let it be noted that Xhaka is the only 1st team regular starter whom I’ve dropped altogether in my 18 to give him a rest rest ahead of the CSKA match, And I believe Wilshere can play the duo role of DM/AMF against the Saints tomorrow to deputise for Xhaka. And I think the Achilles inflicted Koscielny should start this match from the bench to give his Achilles some rest in readiness of him starting the CSKA match.