Southampton will travel to North London to take on Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium looking to get a result which will help them in their cause to save themselves from being demoted to the Skybet Championship at the end of this season. The Saints come into this clash at the back of two successive 3-0 defeats at the hands of Newcastle United and West Ham United respectively. They appointed Mark Hughes as their new manager recently but he has failed to deliver a positive result so far. Hughes will now have a mammoth task to try and lift his players to get something out of the game at the Emirates Stadium tomorrow.
The recent history of this fixture makes a grim reading for the away side as they have not won in any of their previous three meetings with Arsenal, losing two of those matches. Hughes is expected to opt for a 4-4-2 formation and might make a few changes for this match.
4-4-2 Southampton Predicted Lineup To Face Arsenal
Defence
Alex McCarthy will start in goal for the Saints and might be protected by a back four of Jack Stephens and Wesley Hoedt in central defence while Cedric Soares plays at right-back and Ryan Bertrand operates on the left side of the backline.
The Southampton defence has conceded six goals in their last two league matches and the Saints boss Mark Hughes will be hoping that his back four can keep things tight in defence when they take on Arsenal on Sunday.
Midfield
Mario Lemina and Oriel Romeu could be deployed as the holding midfielders at the centre of the park. The performance of the duo will be integral if the Saints are to get anything out of this clash.
Dusan Tadic might start on the left flank and hope to use his guile to cause some damage in the opposition half. James Ward-Prowse will look to deliver some good crosses with his stronger right foot and create some chances while operating on the right side of the midfield. They will be responsible to use their creativity and create some opportunities for the Southampton strikers to feed on!
Attack
Charlie Austin and Manolo Gabbiadini could be deployed to the lead the lines for the Saints up top. The pair has shown signs of promise in recent months and will hope to get their names on the scoresheet when they lace up to face the Gunners on Sunday evening.
