Southampton and Arsenal round off the festivities with their head-to-head at St Mary’s Stadium. Saints lost four of their last five league clashes and are winless in five, while the Gunners tasted defeat just once in the previous 11 Gameweeks.
Notwithstanding their table-topping haul of attempts (61) and shots inside the box (41) over the last four Gameweeks, Southampton ranked third-bottom for goals (two), registering the third-worst shot-conversion rate (3.3%). Ronald Koeman’s squad suffered at the other end of the pitch, too, placing joint-second for goals conceded (seven). They now lay claim to just two clean sheets in 12 outings, having kicked off the season with three shut-outs in five.
Although Arsenal tallied eight goals and charted top for big chances (11) in their previous quartet of match-ups, they ranked in the bottom four with regards to attempts (44). Only Leicester City (21) have chalked up more away goals than the North Londoners (18), which paints a bleak picture regarding Saints’ defensive prospects. The Gunners have also proved hard to beat on their travels, conceding just three goals in their last trio of road ties.
8 years, 10 months agoGW18 Returns Imminent; of 20 players 7 delivered, with two getting defensive returns instead of attacking returns. 3 players did not play from a mix of suspension, injury or rotation, so we can look at this as 7/17 players delivering (%).
Costa [2 goals] ✅
De Bruyne [goal and 2 assists] ✅
Bójan [goal and assist] ✅
Benteke [goal] ✅
Arnautovic [goal] ✅
Antonio [assist] ✅
Johnson [assist] ✅
Shawcross [clean sheet] ?
Moreno [clean sheet] ?
Mané left to play from the list