90min

Arsenal predicted lineup vs Southampton - Premier League

By Grey Whitebloom

Mikel Arteta has lost two of his last three trips to Southampton's St Mary's
Mikel Arteta has lost two of his last three trips to Southampton's St Mary's / Visionhaus/GettyImages
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Arsenal travel to the south coast to face Southampton in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon.

Club folklore dictates that the famous chant "1-0 to the Arsenal" was indelibly inked into the hymn book during the Gunners' European Cup Winners' Cup run in 1994. However, during that season, Arsenal could only string together two 1-0 wins on the spin. Three decades on, Mikel Arteta has led his side to a trio of consecutive 1-0 victories going into Sunday's match.

Here's the XI Arteta may deploy to extend his side's strict adherence to tradition.

1. Arsenal XI (4-3-3)

GK: Aaron Ramsdale - The only assist of Ramsdale's senior career came at St Mary's in a 3-1 victory for Bournemouth in 2019.

RB: Ben White - The former Southampton academy player revealed: “I don’t think I would be the same player I am now,” had he not been released by the Saints aged 16.

CB: William Saliba - Against Leeds last weekend, Saliba conceded his first Premier League penalty, the first spot kick he has given away since April 2021.

CB: Gabriel - Playing Southampton is often an event for Gabriel, who has been sent off and scored across just three Premier League appearances against the Saints.

LB: Takehiro Tomiyasu - With Oleksandr Zinchenko's fitness still uncertain and Kieran Tierney seemingly bound to Europa League duties, Arteta could line up with Tomiyasu at left-back for the third Premier League game in a row.

CM: Martin Odegaard - The first match Odegaard started as Arsenal captain was on the club's last trip to St Mary's - they lost 1-0.

CM: Thomas Partey - The £45m move which brought the midfielder to Arsenal was far less discrete than his arrival in Spain. In 2011, Partey gambled on a trial with Atletico Madrid, leaving Ghana's second tier and travelling to Europe "without saying anything to anyone”,

CM: Granit Xhaka - With three goals in 14 games this season, Xhaka has scored as many as he could muster across his previous 125 appearances for Arsenal.

RW: Bukayo Saka - Arteta has made it abundantly clear that he harbours few doubts about fielding Saka at every available opportunity.

ST: Gabriel Jesus - In the fourth minute of stoppage time, Jesus lobbed the ball over Southampton's stranded Alex McCarthy to snatch a victory for Manchester City, ensuring Pep Guardiola's side became the first - and so far only - team to accrue 100 points a single season back in 2018. Arteta was cavorting on the touchline as well that day.

LW: Gabriel Martinelli - According to Xhaka, Martinelli plays football at “100 miles per hour”.

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