Arsenal

Arsenal vs Southampton: Statistical Preview, Form Guide, Injury News & Head-To-Head

Two of the top three teams heading into this weekend’s Premier League action meet in a 3pm Saturday kick-off at the Emirates. Here’s a statistical preview.

by
Barrie's View
November 22, 2013

Source: Wikimedia

Two of the top three teams heading into this weekend’s Premier League action meet in a 3pm Saturday kick-off at the Emirates.

Following the international break, Arsenal will be looking to bounce back from their 1-0 loss at Manchester United that saw their lead at the top of league reduced to 2 points by second place Liverpool. 5 points separate the top seven teams after 11 games.

Southampton’s 4-1 victory over Hull City moved Mauricio Pochettino’s side into 3rd position as this season’s early surprise package jumped above Chelsea, Tottenham and Manchester City. This will be only the Saints’ third match against current top half teams this season.

Form

Arsenal LWWWD

Arsenal’s impressive form which dates back to the end of January took a knock before the international break as Robin van Persie’s goal handed Arsène Wenger’s side only their second league defeat of the season. The manager will be looking for a response from his team against opposition who have conceded the fewest goals in the league so far this season.

Aaron Ramsey is the form player this season with 6 goals in his 11 Premier League matches. The midfielder faces tough competition in the starting line up with Mesut Özil, Santi Cazorla, Mikel Arteta, Tomáš Rosický, Jack Wilshere and Theo Walcott all available in midfield. Their last outing was the first time the Gunners have failed to score this season.

Mathieu Flamini will miss this game through suspension having picked up 5 yellow cards already this season. Theo Walcott is available again after injury. There’s no new injury news for Wenger’s side but Lukas Podolski remains sidelined.

Southampton WDWDW

Southampton had been averaging 1.1 goals per game prior to their 4-1 thrashing of Hull City last time out. That’s two games without a clean sheet now for Artur Boruc and his defence, but the Saints have still managed to keep a league low 5 goals conceded through 11 games.

10 of Southampton’s 15 goals this season have been scored by Englishmen. All 3 of them represented their country over the past week – Rickie Lambert leads the team with 4 goals, whilst Jay Rodriguez and Adam Lallana (3 each) are the only other players to have scored more than 1 this season.

News on the injury front has been kind to Mauricio Pochettino this season and no new knocks have been reported over the international weekend. Jack Cork and Guly do Prado who have both seen limited time this season remain the only absentees.

Head-to-head

Arsenal were 6-1 winners when these two sides met at the Emirates Stadium last season. Southampton were coached by Nigel Adkins at the team and had only just returned to the Premier League. The Saints were able to hold the Gunners to a 1-1 draw at St Mary’s on New Year’s Day.

Gervinho netted twice in the 6-1 victory, whilst Lukas Podolski scored another. Jos Hooiveld and Nathanial Clyne scored own goals, meaning only two of Arsenal’s goalscorers (Walcott and Clyne) could appear in Saturday’s match that scored in this fixture last season.