Premier League leaders Arsenal are looking to make it nine wins on the spin in all competitions at St. Mary's on Sunday, facing off against a Southampton side who have given them more than a few difficulties in recent years. Ralph Hasenhuttl's side have beaten the Gunners twice in as many years on home soil and at least returned to winning ways against Bournemouth in midweek.
However, the pressure is showing little sign of abating for the Austrian, who says he is "not thinking about being sacked or my future." It would be harsh indeed if a loss to the league leaders forced him to reconsider that stance but sacking season is very much upon us in the Premier League. Here is how you can watch the match and what you need to know:
Viewing information
- Date: Sunday, Oct. 23 | Time: 9 a.m. ET
- Location: St. Mary's, Southampton, United Kingdom
- TV/Live stream: Peacock
- Odds: Southampton +480; Draw +320; Arsenal -182 (via Caesars Sportsbook)
Storylines
Southampton: Kyle Walker-Peters was ruled out alongside the likes of Valentino Livramento and Armel Bella-Kotchap whilst Ainsley Maitland-Niles is ineligible to face his parent club; Hasenhuttl faces quite the crisis of numbers in defense, not something that augurs well for a side that have allowed the sixth highest expected goals tally in the Premier League this season. Still this is a team that tends to deliver its best performances at home to top sides, beating Arsenal in the top flight last season and Chelsea this.
Speaking of Arsenal, the Southampton boss said: "They are possibly the best team in the league at the moment and are a super developed team with a lot of individual quality. But we have to have a positive mindset and at St. Mary's, we have shown we can win against teams like Arsenal and Chelsea."
Arsenal: For Mikel Arteta's side, the task is simple, for now at least. Win three of their next four league games -- and ideally the entire quartet -- and they will go into the lengthy domestic football break for the World Cup at the summit of English football. It is a position they could never have imagined themselves in at the start of the season but as Granit Xhaka said after Thursday's win against PSV Eindhoven in the Europa League, this is an opportunity they must grasp.
"When you are there you have to be there as long as possible in this place," he said. "I think if we have the chance to stay there where we are at the moment and the World Cup comes, maybe it is a good break for everyone, maybe for us as well, to prepare something else for January."
Mikel Arteta will hope to welcome Oleksandr Zinchenko back from his latest muscle issue and that the slight knock Bukayo Saka received on Thursday will not stop him from being fully involved.
Prediction
Arsenal are motoring through the gears in all competitions and though the Thursday-Sunday grind is tough they ought to have enough in the tank to get the job done. Pick: Southampton 0, Arsenal 2
