I’m not sure if Southampton officially qualify as one of Arsenal’s bogey teams, but they have knocked us out of the League Cup this season, and also beat us a two years earlier in the same competition. Even in the Premier League we have only beaten the Saints in 1 of our last 5 meetings, so I think we can assume that Saturday’s game will certainly not be a pushover for the Gunners.
Claude Puel’s men have just beaten Liverpool to reach the League Cup Final in February and in fact have won 4 out of their last 5 games in all competitions (and have won their last three at home too) so may be confident of getting another result against us at St Marys.
With this in mind it looks like Arsene Wenger intends to put out a strong side this weekend, and he told the media today: “We’ll put out a team with first-team experience. Maybe there will be one or two younger players, but no more. Overall, it’s the squad that will play. I have not yet completely decided who will play and who will not play. It’s a first-team squad that will be involved.”
Arsenal have two big London derbies in the 7 days after this game, and I have heard there are still tickets available for those Arsenal games if you are looking. But because of these important League games I am sure that Le Prof will make some changes though, especially since the Saints’ manager has already revealed he will be playing some of his academy players. To be fair, that hasn’t stopped them progressing in both Cup competitions this season. Wenger and his team will know they are definitely in for a fierce game on Saturday and I hope that we are fully prepared this time….
Admin
The last time Monsieur Puel said he will play youngsters in the League Cup, he didn’t at the Emirates and we lost 2-0. he may not have a choice this time given their midweek exploits. However I would expect a full strength team who may tire in the final 30 minutes. AW has already promised a ‘premier league’ team with one or two youngsters. ozil and Sanchez look set for a break tho.
Southampton are becoming a bogey side and it will be good to shake that tag off them for good. The 4-0 loss last season (ref’d by none other than Jon Moss) needs to be removed from recent history with a resounding win.
I am more worried about the postponed away fixture in the league… I would prefer it not to be midweek like last year. We had so many troubles getting the coach into St Mary’s, by the time the delayed match kicked off, our players looked jet-lagged while the Southampton players had been warming up for an extra 15 mins!
Jet-lagged from a trip to southhampton…..?
My oooooh my!
Southampton is a well organized team we need to have a strong team to play against them I dont understand the fact why xaka cant play I mean after all its a cup game and not a premier league game
We really need to play our full strength,we need to beat soton. A little question: Why don’t our full backs cut inside and take a shot?
We have been struggling to beat Southampton recently. Even it seems they are emulating the previous Bolton and Stoke city when they play against Arsenal. Therefore, we have to be more alert and get ready for the FA cup match. There should be no excuse at all if we fail to beat them now.