Arsenal will welcome Southampton to the Emirates this evening in the Premier League, with three players confirmed as missing.
Granit Xhaka and Hector Bellerin have both picked up suspensions after the clash with Burnley at the weekend and will miss out. The Spaniard will only miss tonight’s encounter after picking up his fifth yellow of the campaign, while the Swiss midfielder will miss a further two domestic matches.
Thomas Partey has also been confirmed as missing by Arsenal’s official website. The Ghanaian star was unable to complete the 90 minutes against Tottenham thanks to a second thigh injury, and a return date is still yet to be released.
David Luiz could well miss out also, as he continues to be assessed by the club following his clash of heads with Raul Jimenez of Wolves two weeks ago.
Nicolas Pepe and Gabriel Martinelli could well make their returns to action tonight however, while I expect the former to go straight into the starting line-up.
Predicted XI:
Leno
Chambers Mari Gabriel Tierney
Willock Elneny Saka
Pepe Lacazette Aubameyang
I expect Arteta to ring the changes a little after numerous games, and with the suspended players forced to miss out.
Your guess is as good as mine as to whether Willock, Ceballos or possibly even Maitland-Niles gets the nod in midfield, but I would be very shocked if Pepe wasn’t thrown straight back into the team after his performances in Europe in recent weeks.
Who would you like to see starting the evening? Could Balogun be in the squad to make his PL debut off the bench?
Patrick
Chambers, Marri, Willock, Pepe – it will be like Santa Claus distributing sweets to kids, S’ton will be absolutely greedy on that flank.
Two left footed centre backs, not a chance.Why omit Holding who has been very sound recently?Why buy Soares as a back up for Bellerin and then play Chambers at RB? Has Arteta the courage to leave out Willian, Laca and Auba or at least two of the three?In any event I have been very impressed with Southampton this season, and I consider them a cut above Burnley, indeed they may well go into this match as the bookies favourites.
Please no Wilock ESR or AMN depending on the need for creativity
Bilic has been sacked and it looks like we can cross Big Sam off our list….
Sacked after a very good performance against City last night !
I was looking forward to Big Sam to rescue us from relegation. If Ralph outsmarts us, then hope Edu ends our misery with Mikel tomorrow.
He got rid of Freddie and this is the outcome.
So much pressure on tonight…. they have to deliver!! I can’t see him getting the boot, Gunner22
PW on course to win Wdc again Sue ? 😄
The grinch 😄
Haha it takes a brave man to wear green hair and beard 😂😂 he would have been my choice to win Sue and I’m sure yours too ? 😜
Just wrote the same thing in another thread.
Cedric, AMN and ESR should play but I am expecting Arteta to play it safe and go back to 5 at the back and a bit of a backs to wall performance.
“We need a player with creativity in the middle, we don’t have that in the squad right now.” – Edu
Excuse me. Isn’t Ceballos able to provide that? Why haven’t we tried Ceballos behind the striker yet? Perhaps he prefers a deeper lying position but he has good technique and vision to play further forward
Regarding the post, I don’t know if Elneny should start after almost getting us a second red card
Arsenal will return to winning ways today.
In case you don’t know guys..
The game is LIVE ON AMAZON PRIME if you have it!!!! 😃😃😃😃
What is it on if we don’t have have it!” lol!
Leno
Cedric holding gab tierney
Elneney
Amn. Cobbello. Saka
Pepe
Auba
Bilic sacked, a bit harsh especially after last night draw and their lack of business over the summer the players they signed were already at the club on loans the worse is that there were already rumours that he would be sacked today and Big Sam being lined up for his job another leak anyway hope to see more than the 2 forced changes anything but a loss tonight!
its very difficult o see where a victory comes from but we need creativity somewhere on the pitch and willock and rowe smith are not up to the job that leaves ceballos who has been disappointing but still produces some openings during the game and needs time on the pitch… holding gabriel works cedric is an improvement over bellerin so best i can see is
cedric holding gabriel tierney
amn elneny ceballos saka
pepe aubemayang
leno
chambers gabriel tierny
niles , smith rowe , ceballos , , saka
lacazete
pepe , aubameyang
Eddie Howe to WBA?.
Billic gets an excellent result away to man city (not good enough for Albion board) next morning sacked! Arteta on the verge of losing 5 home games in a row for the first time ever, and 8 defeats in 13, Edu… Arteta is doing a brilliant job! You couldn’t make it up 😆 anyway let’s hope we get some type of performance later 🔴⚪
It’s been on the cards for a little while, Kev. Yes he got them promoted, but besides last night they’ve had some awful results – worse than ours, and that takes some doing!! Although they drew with Burnley!!
Argh! Quit with the numbers!! 😄
Edu should have been sacked for bringing in Willian alone 😂 but in fairness we’ve spent big on Partey and Gabriel not a luxury west Brom have, maybe yesterday was a turning point for them 😬 although with that away kit they have you deserve relegation 😆
Willian needs time, Kev 😉 Don’t forget!
Yes that kit was vile!! Almost as bad as United’s zebra!
Theo Walcott coming back to the Emirates…HUGE sub-plot there with our old boy looking good and hungry at Southampton!
I just hope we avoid defeat!
WEED WALCOTT? YOU HAVE TO BE JOKING! . HE NEVER ONCE LOOKED HUNGRY IN OUR SHIRT FOR HIS WHOLE DECADE PLUS HERE AND HAS NOT BEEN MISSED, NOR BY EVERTON.
Leno
Holding… Gabriel… Tierney
Cedric… Elneny… Ceballos… Saka
Willian… Lacazette… Aubameyang
That’s the most likely lineup Arteta will field, but to be honest,
Most of the problems are starting from defence and the people who were discarded (especially in defence) are way better than the guys there currently;
1. I don’t see anything that Tierney is better than Kolasinac just usual hate. Kolasinac is a better defender, attacker and crosser of the ball
2. Similarly, Gabriel is not any better than Mari (who is the best passer in defence); he’s too slow in releasing the ball
3. Likewise, Nelson is a starter for me in place of Saka any day of the week because he over loses the ball cheaply (Last match I counted like 10 times he lost the ball). Just media hype.
So the stones that were rejected by the builders are the precious ones ATM.
My preferred lineups are;
Leno
Cedric… Mustafi… Mari… Kolasinac
M-Niles… Elneny… Ceballos
Pepe… Aubameyang… Willian
Or
Leno
Cedric…. Mustafi… Mari… Kolasinac
Elneny… Ceballos
Pepe… Willian… Nelson
Aubameyang
I think MA is trying to build partnership of Holding and Gabi, personally, I see nothing wrong in that and I see no reason for any of them to be dropped.
in RB, I see no better option than Bellerin, but since he is our and most ppl want him drop anyways, am less concerned about who plays there, I just hope we get a good results.
I would have love a complete new attackers For the game because that’s where I see we having real issue, for me, I’ll like to play 4 men like last game laccazet playing behind the striker (whom I don’t know, maybe we should give Nketia or Balogun a chance ) , Pepe and Nelson will complete my 4 man attack
today Arteta needs to throw caution to the wing and attack fiercesly, he needs to sacrifice a mf for an extra attacker so far we score, I wouldnt mind if the game end 5-4 in our favor, just attack and win.
He is been keeping it compact all season and that hasn’t been working with this lots of lazy players, so he should let them attack
There is only one player that will excite me if he comes on, Gabriel Martinelli. We have been missing his pace, dribbling and power despite his age and size. If he links up with Pepe they can terrorise teams.
Leno
AMN Holding Gabriel Tierney
Willock Ceballos
Pepe Laca Saka
Auba
Sub: Runnarson, Cedric, Mustafi, Elneny, Nelson, Nkethiah, Willian
I predict a draw tonight but am heartened by the forced omission of the two woeful regulars who should not be so, Bellerin and Xhaka. Id play BALOGUN for LACA tonight and make this Aubas last chance unless he starts trying properly. Definitely drop Willian for Nelson, for an extended period too, as NELSON NEEDS A PROPER RUN AND WILLIAN CAN’T BE ARSED TO RUN TBH!
Should Arteta decides to start his regular playing senior team players for Arsenal home match against Southampton at the Ems in the PL tonight, It is the normal thing he would have done if he does so.
But Arteta’s preference to be staring his senior team players in the PL in Arsenal recent matches in the past weeks has suffered very poor outcome in results as Arsenal have lost 4 PL home games consecutively.
But if Arteta continues with the status quo to start his regular PL match senior team players for the Saints match tonight, and Arsenal happen to lose the match, but would Arteta not be accused of becoming too stubborn by refusing to listen to the good advice of the Gooners who have been advising him to start mixing his PL teams with some proven quality Arsenal youth game playing players? Such as: Balogun, ERS and Willock. Let it be taken that AMN, Nelson and Nketiah who are still young are already first teamers.
But now that Bellerin, Luiz, and Xhaka won’t be available to play in the Saints match, would Arteta seize the opportunity to ringin some changes to his team that will play against Southampton tonight?
For this resume, and in the light of him doing these changes to his team seemingly, for the Saints match, I expect Arteta to bring in Soares, Balogun, ESR and Willock to his 18 for the match and start them.
My wished Arsenal 4-3-3 formation starts and bench for Southampton are as stated below.
Starts:
Leno;
Soares Holding Maglhaes Tierney;
AMN Elneny Willock;
Pepe Balogun Aubameyang.
Amazingly. I have no space in my wished Arsenal starting XI team to accommodate ESR to start the match as I was making my starts despite my advising Arteta to start him. But I will put him on my bench to come on as a sub and play at some point in the game.
Bench.
Runarsson Mari Mustafi Cebbalos ESR Nketiah Lacazette.
I’ve dropped Saka for his starting many PL matches for AFC this season but without a single ciga in his mouth to light it and puff for Arsenal.
Herbz, with the utmost respect, if you feel Kolasinac is superior to Tierney, I suspect you might make up a minority of one. It has nothing whatsoever to do with hate, but all to do with ability.
If Arteta decided to start his regular match playing senior team players for Arsenal home match against Southampton in the PL at the Ems tonight, It is the normal as he wouldn’t not have deviated from the norm if he does so.
But Arteta’s continuously preferring to be staring only his regular PL match playing senior team players in the recent Arsenal matches in the past weeks has suffered very poor results outcome as Arsenal lost 4 PL home games consecutively.
But if Arteta continues with the status quo to start his regular PL match senior team players for the Saints match tonight, and Arsenal happen to lose the match. But would Arteta not be accused of becoming too stubborn refusing take the good advise of the Gooners to make the desired changes to his team that will play against the Saints? The advice of the Gooners who have been advising him to begin mixing his PL teams with some proven quality Arsenal youth game playing players, should not be jettisoned. But start to be stating such players as: Balogun, ERS and Willock. In PL starting from tonight. Let it be taken that AMN, Nelson and Nketiah who are still young are already first teamers.
But now that Bellerin, Luiz, and Xhaka won’t be available to play in the Saints match, would Arteta seize the opportunity to rejig his starting XI team tonight by doing some changes to his team that will play against Southampton?
For this reason, and in the light of him making these changes to his team seemingly for the Saints match, I expect Arteta to bring in Soares, Balogun, ESR and Willock to his 18 squad for the match and start them.
My wished Arsenal 4-3-3 formation starts and bench for Southampton are as stated below.
Starts:
Leno;
Soares Holding Maglhaes Tierney;
AMN Elneny Willock;
Pepe Balogun Aubameyang.
Amazingly. I have no space in my wished Arsenal starting XI team to accommodate ESR to start the match as I was making my starts despite my advising Arteta to start him. But I will put him on my bench to come on as a sub and play at some point in the game.
Bench.
Runarsson Mari Mustafi Cebbalos ESR Nketiah Lacazette.
I’ve dropped Saka for his starting many PL matches for AFC this season but without a single ciga in his mouth to light it and puff for Arsenal.
If Arteta decided to start his regular match playing senior team players for Arsenal home match against Southampton in the PL at the Ems tonight, It is normal as he wouldn’t have deviated from the norm if he does that.
But Arteta’s continuously preferring to be staring only his regular PL match playing senior team players in the recent Arsenal PL matches in the past weeks has suffered very poor results outcome as Arsenal lost 4 PL home games consecutively.
But if Arteta continues with the status quo to start his regular PL match playing senior team players for the Saints match tonight, and Arsenal happen to lose the match. Then, would Arteta not be accused of becoming too stubborn refusing to take the good advise Gooners have been giving him to make the desired changes to his team that will be playing in the PL and against the Saints tonight?
The advice of the Gooners who have been advising him to begin mixing his PL teams with some proven quality Arsenal youth game playing players should not be jettisoned. But begin it by starting such players like: Balogun, ERS and Willock in his PL starting XI for tonight match. Let it be taken that AMN, Nelson and Nketiah who are still young are already first teamers.
But now that Bellerin, Luiz, and Xhaka won’t be available to play in the Saints match, would Arteta seize the opportunity to rejig his starting XI team tonight by introducing some changes to his team that will play against Southampton?
For this reason, and in the light of him making these changes to his team seemingly for the Saints match, I expect Arteta to bring in Soares, Balogun, ESR and Willock to his 18 squad for the match and start them.
My wished Arsenal 4-3-3 formation starts and bench for Southampton are as stated below.
Starts:
Leno;
Soares Holding Maglhaes Tierney;
AMN Elneny Willock;
Pepe Balogun Aubameyang.
Amazingly. I have no space in my wished Arsenal starting XI team to accommodate ESR to start the match as I was making my starts despite my advising Arteta to start him. But I will put him on my bench to come on as a sub and play at some point in the game.
Bench.
Runarsson Mari Mustafi Cebbalos ESR Nketiah Lacazette.
I’ve dropped Saka for his starting many PL matches for AFC this season but without a single ciga in his mouth to light it and puff for Arsenal.