Arsenal will be taking on Southampton at St. Mary’s Stadium on Thursday on the back of a disappointing defeat to Brighton.
The Gunners currently sit in 10th place and will be looking at this game as a chance to get back on track. It will be important for the club to start winning games if they are to fight for a Champions League spot.
Manager Mikel Arteta is likely to make a few changes as he will have to deal with injuries to some key players. But given the players he has and doesn’t have at the moment; this is how he could set up his team against Southampton.
Here is the Predicted Arsenal Lineup vs Southampton
The big change in defence will be an enforced one due to the injury that was suffered by Bernd Leno against Brighton. This will see another appearance for Emiliano Martinez who did well at the weekend apart from the 2 goals conceded.
Due to the lack of options, we are likely to see Shkodran Mustafi and Rob Holding continue in the center of the defence. They are likely to be paired with full-backs Hector Bellerin and Kieran Tierney on either flank.
Injuries play a part here in the midfield as well as Granit Xhaka and Lucas Torreira are out. Though Xhaka has returned to full training, he might not be fit enough to start the match. This would mean that we will see a continuation of the three-man midfield we saw against Brighton.
Dani Ceballos and Matteo Guendouzi will continue in the middle and they will most likely be supported by Bukayo Saka. This will serve as a 4-3-3 where Saka tucks into a more central role. Alternatively, Arteta could go with Joe Willock or Mesut Ozil but they are more likely to be on the bench.
In the attack, having impressed against Brighton, we could once again see a front 3 of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette and Nicolas Pepe. The Ivorian winger scored a magnificent goal that gave the Gunners the lead and was a handful for the Brighton defence.
Southampton have a strong backline so the attackers will have to be at the top of their game. Fans will want to see the club get back to winning ways against the Saints.
Predicted Line-up 4-3-3: Emiliano Martinez, Hector Bellerin, Mustafi, Rob Holding, Kieran Tierney, Matteo Guendouzi, Dani Ceballos, Bukayo Saka, Nicolas Pepe, Alexandre Lacazette, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang