Match Day Thread Southampton vs. Arsenal (FA Cup Fourth Round) 2016/17 Official Match Thread

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Venue: St. Mary's Stadium
Sunday, January 28th 2017
KO Time: 17.30 BST

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Head to Head Against Southampton:
Played: 82
Wins: 40
Draws: 22
Losses: 20
Goals For: 132
Goals Against: 88
Goal Difference: 44

Last 6 Meetings:
Arsenal 0-2 Southampton (EFL Cup)
Arsenal 2-1 Southampton
Arsenal 0-0 Southampton
Southampton 4-0 Arsenal​

Southampton 2-0 Arsenal
Arsenal 1-0 Southampton

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There was good news, good news and more good news when Arsène Wenger ran through the latest fitness updates ahead of the Southampton game.:
on team news…
We have Theo Walcott back in the squad and of course we lose Granit Xhaka because he will be suspended. Mohamed Elneny is at the Africa Cup of Nations and that’s it. The good news is that Per Mertesacker and Mathieu Debuchy are back in full training from Friday, so the squad is quite big, but we are a bit short in midfield at the moment.

on Santi being the only player not in full training…
Not Santi, no.

on whether he’ll rest players on Saturday…
We’ll put out a team with first-team experience. Maybe there will be one or two younger players, but no more. Overall, it’s the squad that will play. I have not yet completely decided who will play and who will not play. It’s a first-team squad that will be involved.​

 

Great to see Theo back in the squad Got a feeling he's going to play a big part in this second half of the season.

 

I've got a feeling the players are going to respond to the Wenger touchline ban.

I have a feeling that after the next 4 games, fans are going to be saying Wenger should stay in the stands every game.

 

Chamberlain and Maitland-Niles in midfield against Hojbjerg and Clasie...Wenger not taking any chances for our main central midfielders getting injured I see.

But it doesn't exactly fill me with confidence, I fear we may get overran in midfield as per usual against this lot.

Hopefully, we can deal with Long better than we have done in previous matches...

The front three of Perez, Welbeck and Walcott could be interesting, though.

 

Gibbs captain?

 

Love the way we have started. Quick, short passes and we're attempting to shoot on sight.

 

DAT GUY!!!!

 

I wonder what exactly welbeck will be for us if he manages to stay fit? Can he push on and reach a prolific scoring level? Will he just always be a super sub? Would love to see him turn into our main striker, but he just doesn't score enough goals just yet.

 

I love Welbz.

 

An attack that has speed and power is always going to be a massive threat against any side. Welbeck, Walcott and Perez is a lethal front 3. It's why I prefer Giroud on the bench because we look so much more dangerous when he doesn't play.

 

Should have been 3! Mustafi should have scored. Ox unlucky to not get another assist. He's fared better in midfield than I thought he would, but Southampton haven't closed him down at all.

 

Silly tackle from Gibbs on the edge of the box. Long wasn't going anywhere and had his back to goal.

 

That's why I questioned his captaincy. He doesn't have the temperament to lead.

 

3-0. Walcott. Should be game over.

 

I know it's a makeshift Saints back four, but our front three have combined brilliantly all game Very impressed.

 

Oh I am loving this. Like I said at the start, this is the direct football we should be playing.

 

0-3. HT.

I didn't want that half to end . Probably the most dominating, incisive football we have played for ages. We've been very well organised when Saints have been in possession too, they've struggled to pass it through us and haven't created any real chances that weren't the result of our own wrongdoing. We've pressed them collectively well too, which is what I want to see us do more of.

Everyone's played extremely well except for Gibbs who's had a few iffy moments. Thankfully he got away with that bit at the end where Martina robbed him of the ball, but Maitland-Niles (who has been superb in midfield) did well to recover and clear the ball before Sims took the shot. That being said, Martina clearly fouled Gibbs, so I'm not sure why the linesman didn't see that. But he should have just cleared the ball, rather than attempting to usher it out.

Southampton are playing like they're still hungover from the result at Anfield. Don't think we'll have an easier first half for the rest of the season.

 

Perez getting an opportunity and looking good. But with Walcott and welbeck fit again how many chances will he now get to play? It's annoying because he's done so well whenever he is given an opportunity but just can't keep a place in the team.

Pleased we are now back to having options along the front three though. Sanchez, Giroud, welbeck, Walcott, Perez, Iwobi, Oxocube... Lots of choice there and different types of players, gives us the ability to play front threes with different styles.

Good to see us taking a strong lead in this game as Southampton are a bit of a banana skin team for us.

Looking very organised and defending well too which is nice to see.

 

Perez should get quite a few starts in the upcoming games. We've got two PL games this week and also the Champions League. He definitely deserves it as he has impressed in every game so far.

This is why I'm glad we've got a big squad. Playing in three competitions, we need all the depth we can get.

 

4-0. Walcott with his second against his former club. Sanchez assist. Lovely goal.

Great skill and poise from Chamberlain too Had a fantastic game in midfield.