Arsenal predicted lineup vs Southampton

Arsenal travel to the south coast to face Southampton in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon.

Club folklore dictates that the famous chant “1-0 to the Arsenal” was indelibly inked into the hymn book during the Gunners’ European Cup Winners’ Cup run in 1994. However, during that season, Arsenal could only string together two 1-0 wins on the spin. Three decades on, Mikel Arteta has led his side to a trio of consecutive 1-0 victories going into Sunday’s match.

Here’s the XI Arteta may deploy to extend his side’s strict adherence to tradition.

GK: Aaron Ramsdale – The only assist of Ramsdale’s senior career came at St Mary’s in a 3-1 victory for Bournemouth in 2019.

RB: Ben White – The former Southampton academy player revealed: “I don’t think I would be the same player I am now,” had he not been released by the Saints aged 16.

CB: William Saliba – Against Leeds last weekend, Saliba conceded his first Premier League penalty, the first spot kick he has given away since April 2021.

CB: Gabriel – Playing Southampton is often an event for Gabriel, who has been sent off and scored across just three Premier League appearances against the Saints.

LB: Takehiro Tomiyasu – With Oleksandr Zinchenko’s fitness still uncertain and Kieran Tierney seemingly bound to Europa League duties, Arteta could line up with Tomiyasu at left-back for the third Premier League game in a row.

CM: Martin Odegaard – The first match Odegaard started as Arsenal captain was on the club’s last trip to St Mary’s – they lost 1-0.

CM: Thomas Partey – The £45m move which brought the midfielder to Arsenal was far less discrete than his arrival in Spain. In 2011, Partey gambled on a trial with Atletico Madrid, leaving Ghana’s second tier and travelling to Europe “without saying anything to anyone”,

CM: Granit Xhaka – With three goals in 14 games this season, Xhaka has scored as many as he could muster across his previous 125 appearances for Arsenal.

RW: Bukayo Saka – Arteta has made it abundantly clear that he harbours few doubts about fielding Saka at every available opportunity.

ST: Gabriel Jesus – In the fourth minute of stoppage time, Jesus lobbed the ball over Southampton’s stranded Alex McCarthy to snatch a victory for Manchester City, ensuring Pep Guardiola’s side became the first – and so far only – team to accrue 100 points a single season back in 2018. Arteta was cavorting on the…