Arsenal vs Southampton preview, team news, probable line-ups: Can Saints complicate Gunners’ title dream?

Under pressure, Arsenal return to Premier League action on Friday night with a match against Southampton.

A win will help the Gunners extend the gap between them and Manchester City to seven, although City – who will be in FA Cup action over the weekend - will have two games in hand.

Two consecutive 2-2 draws against Liverpool and West Ham United saw Arsenal drop points as City continued to pile pressure on them in the title race.

Meanwhile, Southampton are struggling, and relegation looks inevitable with seven games remaining. But facing a side that is fighting for their lives will present a whole new challenge to Arsenal, who are themselves desperate for a victory.

Since a draw against Tottenham, the Saints have lost each of their last three games, and a trip to the Emirates is not set to be a walk in the park for them.

Team news

William Saliba and Oleksandr Zinchenko are going to be unavailable for Arteta, and in their places, Rob Holding and Kieran Tierney are expected to be fielded.

Generally, Arteta is not expected to tinker with his squad and could potentially line up the same ones that faced and dropped points against West Ham.

For Southampton, Mohamed Salisu is ruled out of the Arsenal match, while Ainsley Maitland-Niles remains ineligible to play against his parent club.

What are the stats saying?

Arsenal are undefeated in 17 of their last 19 home matches against Southampton in all competitions.

The Gunners have scored at least two goals in their last seven matches in the Premier League.

Arsenal have picked up 38 points from home games this season, only Manchester City with 40 have performed better in the division.

Southampton are winless in their last six matches in the Premier League.

Only West Ham United (8) and Nottingham Forest (5) have scored fewer goals than Southampton (9) away from home this season.

Predicted lineups:

Arsenal: Ramsdale, Ben White, Holding, Gabriel, Tierney, Odegaard, Partey, Xhaka, Saka, Jesus, Martinelli.

Southampton: Bazunu, Walker-Peters, Bednarek, Bella-Kotchap, Perraud, Walcott, Ward-Prowse, Lavia, Sulemana, Aribo, Alcaraz.