Arsenal will be looking for their first win after the restart of the Premier League season when they visit Southampton on Thursday.
The Gunners had prepared hard for the restart of the season and they were one of the first teams to allow their players to start outdoor training before the suspension was lifted.
However, their return has been poor with the Gunners losing 3-0 to Manchester City on their first game back before allowing Brighton to come from a goal down to beat them 2-1 the last time out.
Their next game will be against the impressive Southampton at Saint Mary’s and Mikel Arteta knows that it will be a tough game.
He hailed The Saints for their style of play under their manager, Ralph Hasenhüttl.
The Spaniard admitted that Saint Mary’s is a tough place for any opponent and added that he knows his opponents are a dangerous side.
He said as quoted by EuroSport: “They are a very German side. A manager that has the team in pressing mode, they are really aggressive, really good on the counter-press, really good in transition, they know what they are doing.
“They all seem very committed to him and are a very dangerous team.”
Arsenal haven’t won at the home of The Saints since 2017 and Arteta said:
“I know it’s a really difficult ground to go to. I explained what the qualities of Southampton are, they are a really dangerous team.
“They have no fear, they go for it, they really believe in what they do and they competed really well so we have to be ready and on Thursday we will be ready.”
It appears that at least Mikel knows what we’re up against and has transmitted that to the team.
I hope his prediction that “we have to be ready and on Thursday we will be ready” is correct for all our sakes, not least his own.
I see Martinelli is injured so I’m struggling to see what decent team he can put out. Personally hope AMN gets a chance in midfield. Everyone else who’s played there so far after the restart has been abysmal.
Arsenal is in a state of dismissal abysmal position. It is clear that our opponent in today’s match, see us as underdog. I hope the unskillful players can grab something out of this match, three straight losses will end our season.
Arteta has understood our opponent for today but what is more important is that we have to win at all costs. I agree that AMN should start in the midfield and also hope that KT starts at left back allowing Saka to explore on the wings. Viva Arsenal!