Southampton vs Arsenal

St Mary’s Stadium is the venue as Southampton and Arsenal go head-to-head in a tasty-looking Premier League encounter.

Despite taunting chants from Southampton fans against under-pressure manager Ralph Hasenhuttl during midweek Premier League, the ‘Saints’ pulled off a narrow 1-0 win over promoted Bournemouth to halt a five-game winless league streak (D1, L4). Back to St Mary’s, where they’ve won just once in their five Premier League matches this season (D2, L2), Southampton will play against the odds to extend Hasenhuttl’s coaching career in England. Following a 1-0 victory in this corresponding fixture last season, the hosts could win back-to-back league meetings with Arsenal for only a second time in club history. However, Southampton’s defensive woes could put a dent in that bid, with Hasenhuttl’s men keeping just one clean sheet in their last 11 top-flight home outings, conceding an average of 1.9 goals per game in that sequence.

On the other hand, Arsenal squeezed past PSV Eindhoven in midweek Europa League action, courtesy of Granit Xhaka’s second-half winner, to complete a hat-trick of 1-0 wins across all competitions. The ‘Gunners’ have gone into overdrive since an underwhelming 3-1 defeat at Manchester United in early September, racking up an eight-match winning streak, including four straight triumphs in the Premier League. Arsenal headed into this matchday as sovereign league leaders, four points ahead of second-placed Manchester City, following the club’s best-ever ten-game start in the top flight (W9, L1). With only Man City (36) netting more league goals than Mikel Arteta’s men (24) this Premier League season, they’re widely expected to thrive against Southampton’s porous backline. Curiously, none of the visitors’ last 27 Premier League fixtures have ended as a draw, which stands as the fifth-longest such run in the competition’s history.

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