Southampton welcome Arsenal to St. Mary’s Stadium on Sunday lunchtime in what looks like an interesting game between two teams who play very different styles of football. Arsenal look to play open, exciting, attacking football, whilst Southampton, first and foremost, try to not lose the game by keeping it tight at the back. It will be interesting to see which style prevails on Sunday, but Arsene Wenger will be confident of getting back to winning ways after last weekend’s defeat to Manchester United.
English Premier League – St Mary’s Stadium – Sunday, December 10th – 12:00 UK Time
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Draw Best Odd of: 5/2 at Ladbrokes |
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Southampton
FC ArsenalSouthampton
Southampton come into this game having won just one of their last six matches. That victory came against an Everton side who were arguably at their lowest ebb at that point. In their last match, Southampton drew 1-1 with Bournemouth in the South Coast derby, but manager Mauricio Pellegrino will be very concerned with the amount of games which his side are failing to win. Shane Long and Cedric are both injury doubts heading into the game, but other than that Pellegrino has a fully fit squad to choose from.
Arsenal
Arsenal were unlucky to lose 3-1 to Manchester United in their last league game and on another day they could have scored four or five goals in a frankly mad game. David de Gea turned in one of the greatest individual goalkeeper performances I’ve ever seen in that match and made some miraculous point blank saves to keep Manchester United in front. Either side of that match, Arsenal have won 5-0 and 6-0 and they will come into this match full of confidence. Jack Wilshere turned in an impressive performance on Thursday night in Europe and he will be pushing for a start in Sunday’s game. Shkodran Mustafi will likely miss the game after picking up an injury against Manchester United, but other than that, Wenger has no fresh injury concerns.
Talking Points
1. Arsenal have scored in 10 matches in a row and will be confident of keeping that run going on Sunday.
2. Southampton have scored just 15 goals in 15 games this season and it is that form in front of goal which has held them back.
3. Arsenal have won just 2 of their 7 away games this season, losing 4 times on the road.
Prediction
Arsenal have struggled away from home this season, whilst Southampton have struggled to score enough goals to win games. Despite losing to Manchester United last weekend, Arsenal come into this game full of confidence and I’m backing them to pick up yet another victory on Sunday to keep up their assault on a top four place. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Arsenal score two or three goals here and despite Southampton being solid defensively, if Arsenal get ahead early, The Saints will have to attack.
Betting Tips
Arsenal start Sunday’s game as 11/4 favourites, whilst a home win for Southampton is priced up at 17/20, with the draw available at 5/2. I do think Arsenal will win on Sunday, so those odds of 19/20 look pretty decent to me. A tempting bet can be found in the HT/FT market where Arsenal/Arsenal is priced up at 21/10; I think Arsenal will start fast in this game and look to kill it off early, so that looks like a good bet to me. In terms of goal scorers, Alexandre Lacazette and Alexis Sanchez are both available at 6/5 to Score at Anytime and you can’t go wrong tipping either of those.
HT/FT – Arsenal/Arsenal – 21/10 (Ladbrokes)