Two remaining matches of the 33rd round of English Premier League are on schedule for Sunday and in the first of them will met two unequal opponents, given that Arsenal currently occupies the sixth place, while Southampton is at mere 18th place in the table. It means that the guests from south of England need points very much, while on the other hand the Gunners from London still haven’t secure a place for themselves in European competitions. Let’s add that their head-to-head played last autumn had ended as draw 1-1.
However, Arsenal won both their league matches played last season, as well as one played in the FA Cup, while the Saints had an upper hand only in the League Cup as they won at the Emirates 2-0. Situation is such now that the Gunners from London are in much better mood ahead of the match given their five-game winning streak, where last four were won right at home; in the Premier League by 3-0 over Watford and Stoke, and in the Europa League over Milan and CSKA Moscow.
Before that Arsenal won the Rossoneri away, while thanks to triumph of 4-1 over the Muscovites they are on verge to qualify for the semi-finals of the Europa League, which is their only chance to qualify for the Champions League next season. In the English Premier League the Gunners lag behind 4th-placed Tottenham for even 13 points and on top of it they haven’t qualified for sure for the Europa League as they have just five points more than Burnley. Let’s add that due to injuries out of action are goalkeeper Ospina, midfielder Cazorla and winger Mkhitaryan.
Probable lineups Arsenal: Cech – Bellerin, Mustafi, Chambers, Kolasinac – Elneny, Ramsey – Welbeck, Wilshere, Iwobi – Aubameyang
Regarding the guest from south of England we have said in the introduction that they occupy worrying 18th-place in the Premier League table ahead of duel with the Gunners, where just one point separate them from next-to-last Stoke, while they lag minimally behind teams that occupy 15th to 17th positions. The Saints came to this inevitable situation after latest five-game winless streak in the league of three losses and two draws, which is why they recently fired Argentinian coach Pellegrino.
In the meantime his place has taken over Welsh coach Mark Hughes who won his debut as Southampton manager as the team won Wigan 2-0 away in the quarter-final of the FA Cup, although it lost after that league away match with West Ham by even 3-0. Right because of that the Saints must show now far more courage if they want to remain undefeated at the Emirates, where fact that have no problems with absences comes very handy.
Probable lineups Southampton: McCarthy – Soares, Stephens, Hoedt, Bertrand – Romeu, Lemina – Redmond, Davis, Tadic – Austin
We have said in our analysis that the guests need points far more than the home team as it struggles to survive. That is why we expect to see fully open and efficient match at the Emirates.
Pick: both teams to score
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