Unai Emery praises Southampton’s away form but remains positive Arsenal will put in a good performance.
Arsenal manager, Unai Emery believes Southampton are a better side than their recent results suggest and he expects the Saints to pose some problems for Arsenal.
Southampton has been on the wrong end of some bad results recently and the most obvious has been their 9-0 loss at the hands of Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester City.
However, Unai Emery believes nothing should be taken away from Ralph Hasenhüttl’s men and he points to their away form to underline the risk they pose.
The Foxes defeated Sheffield United away and almost came away with a point in their game against Manchester City before a late goal from Kyle Walker earned the Citizens a 2-1 win.
Emery who is under pressure to earn a first win in five league games acknowledges how big the task ahead of them is, but he is hopeful that his boys will do what is required.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference as reported by Arsenal.com he said: “Yes, every team is a very difficult team in the Premier League.
‘I think they also need the points because they are now not in the best moment for them. But they are playing, I think, better away than in the matches at home.
‘They are very competitive also, away. They lost 2-1 at the last moment against Manchester City, they won in Sheffield and also, they lost in the last moment against Tottenham.
‘I think they are also going to very, very motivated to achieve that three points against us, but I think also we need to impose, to work, to show our game plan and our intensity against them in the 90 minutes on Saturday”
It has to be said that while it is easy to point to some appalling results for Southampton, one has to acknowledge that they have been half decent away from home.
That said, Arsenal really should be winning at home against this sort of opposition fairly comfortably.
