Out-of-form Arsenal will be looking to ease the pressure on under-fire manager Mikel Arteta when they welcome high-flying Southampton to the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday evening.
The Gunners go into their 13th match of the campaign sitting 15th in the table, just five points above the relegation zone, whereas Southampton climbed into the top four with a comfortable victory over Sheffield United at the weekend.
Match preview
© Reuters
In what has been one of the most unpredictable Premier League seasons ever, these two teams perhaps best typify the narrative of big clubs underperforming and underdogs punching above their weight.
For Arsenal, the picture looks more and more bleak with each passing week, whereas hopes of a successful campaign for Southampton seem to grow almost every time they take to the field at the moment.
Eleven points and 11 places separate the two sides in the Premier League table, while at the same stage of last season it was Arsenal sitting sixth and Southampton struggling in 19th.
That is perhaps the best representation of how far the Saints have come in the space of a year or so, but for Arsenal things are looking even worse than they were under Unai Emery.
Indeed, the Spaniard had been sacked by this point of last season, yet the Gunners were still four points better off than they are after 12 games of this season.
© Reuters
It is easy to see why the pressure is mounting on the shoulders of Arteta, then, and another defeat in midweek would only increase those calls for him to be sacked just short of his one-year anniversary of taking over.
Arteta would have no doubt built up some goodwill with his FA Cup triumph last season, but their Premier League form is unavoidable and inescapable - seven defeats from their last 10 games and just one point from the last 15 on offer.
The supporters made their feelings felt upon their return to the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, when the Arsenal team was booed off after falling to a miserable 1-0 defeat at the hands of struggling Burnley.
Arteta may be secretly thankful that a return to tier three restrictions in London will prevent fans from attending this one, then, with Arsenal having now lost four home top-flight games in a row for the first time since December 1959.
Just as worrying is Arsenal's troubles in front of goal; they have scored only 10 times in their 12 games this season, which is their worst tally at this stage of a campaign since 1981-82 and the fourth-lowest figure in the league.
© Reuters
Things will not get any easier for them against Southampton either, although in terms of the history of this fixture the Saints could actually be ideal opponents for the misfiring Gunners.
Arsenal are unbeaten in their last 25 home league games against Wednesday's opponents, including all 21 such Premier League meetings - the longest home run without ever losing against another team any club has enjoyed in Premier League history.
Indeed, that streak stretches all the way back to 1987, although the significance of that is dulled somewhat by the fact that Arsenal fell to their first top-flight loss at the hands of Burnley since September 1974 last time out.
It would have also been very rare in that 33-year Southampton drought for the Saints to go into this fixture as favourites, but that is a status which their league position and form demands they take on for this game.
Only in 2014-15 have Southampton ever had more points than their current tally of 23 after 12 games of a top-flight season, and victory at the Emirates could even take them temporarily top of the table for a few hours at least, depending on results elsewhere.
© Reuters
Ralph Hasenhuttl's side are just two points off the leaders and have won as many games as both Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool this season, with at least one of those teams guaranteed to drop points when they face off later on Wednesday evening.
Sunday's 3-0 win over Sheffield United means that they have now won seven and lost just one of their last 10 Premier League games - almost the polar opposite of Arsenal's form heading into this match.
Away from home Southampton have lost just one of their last 11 in the league, although they have not won back-to-back away games since June - something they could achieve here.
The Saints have not even avoided defeat in consecutive away league games against Arsenal since September 1988 but came within a whisker of winning here last season, only being held to a 2-2 draw courtesy of a last-gasp Alexandre Lacazette equaliser.
If they are to go one better and pick up the win this time around, they will need to overcome a peculiar record of playing on Wednesdays; they are winless in their last 21 such top-flight games played on that day, stretching back to 1995, whereas Arsenal have only lost one of their 21 Wednesday league games at the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal Premier League form: WLDLLL
Arsenal form (all competitions): WLWLWL
Southampton Premier League form: WWDLWW
Team News
© Reuters
Granit Xhaka's red card against Burnley on Sunday means that he will miss the next three games, while Hector Bellerin is also banned for this one after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season. Nicolas Pepe is now back available after his serving his own suspension, though.
Thomas Partey remains sidelined for the Gunners, while Arteta must check on head injuries for David Luiz and Reiss Nelson.
Sead Kolasinac is also expected to miss out, while Gabriel Martinelli could be in contention for a place in the squad after coming through a youth game unscathed as he continues his recovery from a long-term knee injury.
Southampton boast a clean bill of health and could name an unchanged side to the one which cruised past Sheffield United, although Nathan Redmond will be pushing for a start after scoring off the bench in that game.
Che Adams now has four goals to his name in 12 games this season, already matching his tally from 30 outings last season, with all eight of his Premier League strikes coming since lockdown ended in June.
Danny Ings, meanwhile, could become the first Saints player ever to register four Premier League goals against the Gunners, having netted three times in as many appearances against them for the club.
Arsenal possible starting lineup:
Leno; Maitland-Niles, Holding, Gabriel, Tierney; Elneny, Ceballos; Willian, Lacazette, Saka; Aubameyang
Southampton possible starting lineup:
McCarthy; Walker-Peters, Bednarek, Vestergaard, Bertrand; Armstrong, Ward-Prowse, Romeu, Redmond; Adams, Ings
We say: Arsenal 0-1 Southampton
Southampton may never get a better chance to end their woeful away record against Arsenal than this match, with the Gunners in disarray and struggling to pick up a point or even score a goal at the Emirates right now.
Arteta's side still have the quality to turn that dreadful form around this season, but it will be a big ask for them to do that against an in-form Southampton side full of confidence at the moment.
Top betting tip
Video prediction
Watch the Sports Mole Football Shorts prediction for this game below:
Barney Corkhill
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Arsenal win with a probability of 51.55%. A win for Southampton had a probability of 25.4% and a draw had a probability of 23.1%.
The most likely scoreline for an Arsenal win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.68%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (8.86%) and 2-0 (8.03%). The likeliest Southampton win was 1-2 (6.45%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (10.69%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 10.7% likelihood.
