Southampton vs Arsenal preview, team news, prediction, kick-off, channel

Watch Southampton vs Arsenal live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Football from 5.30pm; Kick-off 6pm

Thursday 25 June 2020 18:09, UK

Team news, stats and prediction ahead of Southampton vs Arsenal in the Premier League on Thursday (kick-off 6pm).

Team news

Southampton forward Shane Long will be available after missing the win at Norwich through a muscle complaint.
Moussa Djenepo serves the final game of his three-game ban following his March sending off against Newcastle.

Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno (knee) has joined Calum Chambers (knee), Pablo Mari (ankle), Gabriel Martinelli (knee), Cedric Soares (facial) and Lucas Torreira (ankle) on the long injury-list for Mikel Arteta. However, Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Granit Xhaka are back in full training.

David Luiz serves the final game of his two-game ban.

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A preview of the midweek fixtures in the Premier League as the competition enters matchweek 31. Tottenham host West Ham, Crystal Palace travel to Liverpool and Manchester United face Sheffield United

How to follow

Follow the match on Sky Sports Premier League without crowd noise and Sky Sports Main Event with crowd noise. Also keep up-to-date in our dedicated live blog with in-game clips, as well as highlights published on the Sky Sports digital platforms and the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel shortly after full time.

Opta stats

Southampton have won three of their last five Premier League home games against Arsenal (D1 L1), more than they had in their previous 12 against them at the Dell/St Mary's (W2 D5 L5).
Arsenal have lost just one of their last eight Premier League meetings with Southampton (W4 D3), though it was in this exact fixture last season in Ralph Hasenhuttl's first home game in charge of Saints.
Only against Manchester United (82) have Southampton conceded more Premier League goals than they have versus Arsenal (76).
This is Arsenal's third Premier League match played on Thursday this season, all of them against clubs from the south coast. The Gunners lost at home to Brighton in December, before drawing at Bournemouth later that month in Mikel Arteta's first game in charge.
Southampton have lost more Premier League home games than any other side in 2019-20 (9). Only in 1993-94 (10) have they lost more at home in a single Premier League campaign.
Southampton are yet to draw a Premier League game in 2020, with Saints winning five and losing five of their 10 matches. Southampton have kept a clean sheet in four of those five victories, while they've conceded at least twice in four of the five defeats.
Having been on an 11-game unbeaten run away from home in all competitions since the start of December, Arsenal have lost each of their last two on the road.
Arsenal have lost 10 points from winning positions in their 12 Premier League games under Mikel Arteta - as many as they'd lost in their previous 36 combined under Fredrik Ljungberg and Unai Emery.
Southampton's leading goalscorer this season Danny Ings has scored three goals in his last two Premier League appearances against Arsenal. The striker has only found the net more often against Aston Villa and Everton (4 each) in the competition.
Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has scored 49 Premier League goals, and a goal here will see him become the sixth fastest player to reach 50 in the competition (78 games). However, he's failed to score in any of his last three appearances, with his goalless run standing at 314 minutes (10 shots attempted).

Charlie's prediction

Norwich were poor but Southampton impressed - they are much better away than they are at home, but what a season Danny Ings is having. Nathan Redmond's movement and pace is excellent, and he is good with two feet. Is this the time for Redmond to really kick on? He has always been troublesome and should be doing this much more.

I thought Emiliano Martinez did well when he came on, but tell me any goalkeeper who could play behind this back four?They are left so exposed. Martinez slightly got it wrong for the last goal but did not play badly at all. I cannot work out where a result is coming from for Arsenal at the minute.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang looked more lively, and I do like Alexandre Lacazettte but he was out of sorts. He has to earn the right to play and he is not doing enough. Nicolas Pepe scored a great goal but is not doing enough either. Eddie Nketiah will probably get a nod again and I do not have a problem with that.

How do you work it out for Arsenal? The defence is poor - Mikel Arteta left Kieran Tierney out, but he does need games to get fit. He needs games to get confidence, but how do you get that in this defence? He has been brought into this.

I do not know what his midfield selection is. Matteo Guendouzi is a talent but he needs experience with him, while Dani Ceballos is good on the ball but not without it, and we are in an absolute mess at the minute. We do not usually get something at Southampton and the top four is long gone, but I would be grateful for yet another draw, just to get a point on the board.

CHARLIE PREDICTS: 2-2 (11/1 with Sky Bet)

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