On Wednesday night, at 18:00, Arsenal and Southampton face off in the 13th round of the Premier League, and the “gunners” are in an extremely weak moment. They also lost the home match with Burnley (0-1), and now they are closer to relegation than to the European zone. The “gunners” remain favorites against Southampton, but the “saints” are a very solid opponent.
Southampton is on track and climbed to 4th place in the standings! With a goal difference of 24-17 and just two points ahead, the white-and-reds are in great form and are reminiscent of the legendary team of Kevin Phillips, Rory Delap and James Beattie, who amazed Europe more than once decade. Southampton have been “flirting” with relegation in recent years, but now they seem to have found the formula for success and a very good balance between an exuberant offensive and a solid defense. The team’s goal average speaks for itself about the “miracles” achieved by Ralf Hasenhuttl here.
With 7 wins in 12 stages, Southampton face the team in 15th place (goal average 10-15), which has accumulated only one point in the last five stages. There have been many rumors that Arsenal can fight for the Top 3 with Mikel Arteta on the bench, but the reality seems to contradict the optimists. The “Gunners” are on the 15th place (goal average 10-15) and have only 13 points, being close to the “mined” area, near Brighton, Burnley, Fulham or WBA. There is probably no chance that the Londoners will be demoted, but Mikel Arteta’s job is certainly in danger.
Lately, Arsenal have lost to Wolverhampton (1-2), Tottenham (0-2) and Burnley (0-1), so only the Europa League run brings a positive aspect in the white-reds’ statistics. Instead, Southampton come after well-deserved successes with Newcastle (2-0), Brighton (2-1) and Sheffield United (3-0), and strikers Adams, Redmond and Ings are in excellent shape. The balance of direct duels may be unfavorable to the “saints”, but things may change on Wednesday night, in the match on Emirates. Arsenal have won two of the last three direct duels, 2-0 each time, which is why the Londoners are the favorites again.
Looking at the cold numbers, we know that we expect the show in this duel in the middle of the week. At least four goals have been scored in 3 of the last 5 direct duels, and the draw has been recorded only twice in the last 10 games. Bettors should be on guard: Arteta cannot count on Ozil, Partey, Xhaka, Kolasinac, Luiz, Martinelli and Nelson, while Hasenhuttl has the full team at his disposal. Arsenal has not started a season so poorly since 1981 and the “gunners” are without a goal scored in 50% of the stages played this season in England!
For 39 seasons, Arsenal has not had such a low goal / match average – 0.83;
Danny Ings (Southampton) have scored in the last 4 consecutive trips in his team;
A year ago, Hasenhuttl was on the verge of dismissal, after a 0-9 record with Leicester;
Arsenal have conceded at least one goal in the last 5 consecutive games;
Arsenal have lost just one direct duel in the last 8 to Southampton;
Southampton has only one failure in the last 10 stages of the championship;
In 4 of Southampton’s last 5 matches, both teams have scored;
PREDICTION: Both teams to score / YES @ 1,61
