Arsenal travel to St. Mary’s as both sides hope to get their names in the pot for the 5th round of the Emirates FA Cup. It’s one of only two all-Premier League ties, Southampton currently sit 11^th while Arsenal are in 2^nd with only Chelsea who have picked up more top-flight points than them this season. Saturday’s late kick-off has the potential to be a real FA Cup cracker between two very strong Premier League sides.

STATS

• Arsenal didn’t make it easy for themselves to get through to the 4th round as they came from behind to beat EFL Championship side, Preston North End. They eventually ran out 2-1 winners but it took them until the 89^th minute to finally get them through to the next round. Olivier Giroud’s late winner sunk the hearts of Preston fans and players who took the lead in the 7^th minute of the game. No other team has won the FA Cup on more occasions than Arsenal, their 12 FA Cup wins only matched by Manchester United and Arsene Wenger will be hoping to win another FA Cup title.
• Southampton managed to get past their own Championship opposition in the last round as they beat Norwich 1-0. However, after a thrilling 2-2 draw at Carrow Road, the Saints had to beat Norwich in the form of a replay. A stoppage time Shane Long winner sent them through to a 4th-round tie with Arsenal. After they made their way into the EFL Cup Final with a 2-0 aggregate victory over Liverpool, Claude Puel’s side will be hoping to add to their cup success with progress in the FA Cup.

HEAD TO HEAD

The last meeting between the two sides was in the EFL Cup quarter-final where Southampton came out on top as 2-0 winners. In the last 5 games against the Gunners, Southampton have only lost once.

Head to head matches: Southampton FC - Arsenal FC

30.11.2016

EFL

Arsenal FC

Southampton FC

0:2

SOUTHAMPTON NEWS

After 2 great victories in their last 2 games, a 3-0 win at home to champions, Leicester City, and a 1-0 ‘smash and grab’ win at Anfield in the EFL Cup semi-final second leg, they’ll be confident when Arsenal come to town. Although Puel has been known for his ‘tinkering’ of the team, he’s not expected to change too much going into this FA Cup tie. He has 5 players on the injury table and the main two losses are Charlie Austin (shoulder) and Sofiane Boufal (knee), who have both clearly been well-replaced in the last few games. Also injured are Alex McCarthy, Matt Targett and Jeremy Pied, the first two out through hamstring problems and Pied has had surgery on a knee injury in the summer.

Latest matches: Southampton FC

25.01.2017	EFL	Liverpool FC	Southampton FC	0:1	W
22.01.2017	Prem	Southampton FC	Leicester City	3:0	W
18.01.2017	FA C	Southampton FC	Norwich City	1:0	W
14.01.2017	Prem	Burnley FC	Southampton FC	1:0	L
11.01.2017	EFL	Southampton FC	Liverpool FC	1:0	W

ARSENAL NEWS

After a good run of results for Arsenal recently that has seen them shoot up to second in the Premier League table, Arsene Wenger won’t want to make a lot of changes to his side. However, because of their commitments to the Premier League and Champions League, they might rest some of their key players. Arsenal have 3 players who aren’t far from a return to the squad but Saturday’s game might be a bit too early. Per Mertesacker, Mathieu Debuchy and Theo Walcott probably won’t be risked in this one. Mohamed Elneny is also unavailable due to his contribution to Egypt’s African Cup of Nations campaign.

Latest matches: Arsenal FC

22.01.2017	Prem	Arsenal FC	Burnley FC	2:1	W
14.01.2017	Prem	Swansea City	Arsenal FC	0:4	W
07.01.2017	FA C	Preston North End	Arsenal FC	1:2	W
03.01.2017	Prem	Bournemouth AFC	Arsenal FC	3:3	D
01.01.2017	Prem	Arsenal FC	Crystal Palace	2:0	W

SUMMING UP!

There isn’t a clear winner in this FA Cup fixture and I wouldn’t be surprise to see this game go to a replay. Home advantage will benefit Southampton but Arsenal’s success in the FA Cup in recent years make them very slight favourites to get into the next round.