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Arsenal predicted line-up against Southampton

By Ritayan Chatterjee on October 21, 2022

Arsenal will travel to the south coast on Sunday afternoon to face off against Southampton at Saint Mary’s Stadium.

The Gunners continued their impressive form in midweek when they encountered PSV Eindhoven at the Emirates in the Europa League, overcoming the Eredivisie giants’ thanks to Granit Xhaka’s solitary second-half strike.

Southampton have endured a topsy-turvy start to this Premier League season as Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side are currently sitting in 14th with 11 points in as many games.

Arsenal haven’t enjoyed great success at St Mary’s in recent times, winning twice and losing as many games in the last five encounters in all competitions. Mikel Arteta’s side endured a 1-0 defeat in this fixture last season, so, the north London club will be eyeing revenge for that defeat on Sunday.

Expected Arsenal line-up

Arteta went with a quite strong first eleven against PSV in midweek and there are expected to be some changes to that line-up this weekend. Matt Turner should make way for Aaron Ramsdale in goal.

William Saliba could also return at the heart of the defence and Gabriel Magalhães should keep his place. Therefore, Rob Holding will go back to the bench after starting versus Ruud van Nistelrooy’s side.

Ben White is expected to be deployed in the right-back position for Arsenal, while Kieran Tierney might commence on the opposite side. So, Takehiro Tomiyasu could be among the substitutes after starting back-to-back games within just four days. Oleksandr Zinchenko is edging closer to returning from a calf injury but this game is likely to come too soo.

Thomas Partey will replace Albert Sambi Lokonga as the deep-lying midfielder, while Granit Xhaka and Martin Odegaard should be the two advanced midfielders just ahead of the Ghanaian. In that case, Fabio Vieira would find himself on the bench this weekend.

Gabriel Martinelli might return to the starting eleven on the left-wing position after recovering from illness and Bukayo Saka will start on the opposite flank. The Arsenal star picked up a knock against PSV in midweek but is expected to be fit this weekend.

Gabriel Jesus should keep hold of his place in the first eleven to lead the line and therefore, Eddie Nketiah is expected to be among the substitutes on Sunday.