Wenger To Make 2 Key Changes: Predicted Arsenal XI To Face Southampton

Arsenal will look to close in on the top four in the Premier League when we take on Southampton at St Marys on Wednesday night.

Here is the side Gooner Mac thinks Arsene Wenger will select for the game:

Goalkeeper: Petr Cech was excellent once again during Sunday’s victory over Manchester United with our No.1 making a vital stop to deny Wayne Rooney with the scores still at 0-0. Therefore, Cech is expected to keep his place with David Ospina on the bench after recovering from a back injury.

Defence: Laurent Koscielny is a doubt after picking up a knock at the weekend and Wenger said at his press conference this morning that our skipper will face a late fitness test.

If Koscielny misses out, then we should see Shkodran Mustafi come back in to the starting eleven after recovering from a thigh injury that’s hampered him in recent weeks.

Rob Holding was excellent against United on Sunday so I see no reason why the youngster should lose his place while Nacho Monreal has performed well since moving in to the back three.

Midfield: With Monreal in defence, Kieran Gibbs has been given a chance to establish himself in the left wing-back role so he could continue against Southampton tomorrow night.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was once again excellent on the right so it looks like Hector Bellerin may have to make do with a place on the bench again as we look to protect his troublesome ankle problem.

Aaron Ramsey was back to his best against United so I think we’ll see him keep his place while Granit Xhaka should shake off a minor calf problem to start in midfield.

Attack: Danny Welbeck got himself on the scoresheet against his former club but reports suggest the striker’s playing time needs to be managed due to a niggling toe injury so we could see Olivier Giroud recalled tomorrow.

Alexis Sanchez is still struggling to find his very best form right now but there is no way he’ll be left out so we should expect to see him deployed in the attack again while Mesut Ozil will also retain his place after a solid outing against United.

Lucas Perez is back in contention after recovering from a thigh injury so he’ll be hoping to earn a place on the bench where he’d join the likes of Theo Walcott and Alex Iwobi.

Here is how I think we’ll see Arsenal line-up: