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Arsenal are in crisis mode welcoming Southampton to the Emirates tonight.
The Gunners have lost their last four league games at home, the first such streak in 61 years, and are looking to avoid making five for the first time in club history.
Mikel Arteta, who has seen the optimism around the club evaporate after the FA Cup triumph last season, was defiant in his press conference before this match, admitting that he must ‘take the bullets’ for the streak he has made. their average drop to 15th place in the Premier League table.
However, his task of stabilizing the ship is far from simple, with Southampton at the height of Ralph Hassenhutl.
The Saints have lost just one of their last ten games dating back to late September and come into tonight’s game at a Champions League spot in fourth place.
Follow all the action with Standard Sport’s live blog below.
Live updates
Simon Collings is in the Emirates
It hasn’t been a bad start for Arsenal so far. Defensively they look more settled in a back-three, with Gabriel much happier. He looks strong in the middle of the trio and has already made some good tackles.
11 minutes: You can tell which of these teams is confident and which is full of confidence. Southampton looks cool, sharp. When Arsenal have the ball everything seems a bit rushed.
7 minutes: Phew. A little treatment and Bukayo Saka is back.
5 minutes: Oh. This would be a nightmare for Arsenal. Bukayo Saka has been one of her few bright lights this season, but she grabs her knee after she awkwardly twists in a collision with Che Adams.
2 minutes: A tough start for Arsenal as Pepe nearly slipped Danny Ings into goal and Holding has a crucial intervention to make.
Che Adams has a chance when the ball breaks and feels good, but it’s always wide open.
KICK OFF!
We are underway in the Emirates …
The teams are leaving the Emirates. Sadly, there is no sign of those retro jackets on Arsenal players.
Will there be any sign of a change in luck tonight?
We assume Arsenal will line up with a back three tonight, with Bukayo Saka and Ainsley Maitland-Niles playing as wingers, but I suppose there is a chance it could still be a back four.
However, if that was the case, he probably would have expected Cedric Soares to come in as a right-back instead of Maitland-Niles.
Walcott begins with the return of Emirates
There will be no people tonight, of course, after London’s new Level 3 Covid restrictions went into effect at midnight, meaning there will be no welcome reception for Theo Walcott.
He has been in excellent form for the Saints since rejoining his childhood club on loan from Everton in the closing hours of the transfer window and returns to another of his old teams tonight, having scored more than one. century of goals for the Gunners.
