Arsenal return to cup action following the international break with a trip to St Mary’s to face Southampton in the quarter-final of the FA Cup.
Arsenal’s last game will not be remembered fondly. They lost 2-0 to Manchester City in the Carabao Cup Final, conceding two goals in a matter of minutes from Nico O’Reilly.
The biggest concern for the Gunners will be how Pep Guardiola tactically outclassed them, in particular during the second half, when Mikel Arteta’s side were unable to sustain any sort of possession, allowing City to continually push forward with constant waves of attack.
Arsenal haven’t made it to the FA Cup semi-finals since they last won the competition back in 2020, but they now have an opportunity to change that against Southampton.
Despite being in different leagues, Arsenal can’t take this game lightly, considering their recent record away at Southampton.
The Gunners have only won three of their previous seven visits, the latest being on the final day of the Premier League season last year, with goals from Kieran Tierney and Martin Odegaard helping Arsenal to a last-minute 2-1 win.
When these sides last met in this competition in 2021, Southampton won 1-0. Gabriel put the ball into his own net in the first half.
Even without playing, the Gunners generated a lot of chatter during the international break, with the majority of their players pulling out before and during the two-week period.
Players who pulled out of the international break:
Leandro Trossard - Belgium (Injury)
Eberechi Eze - England (Injury)
Declan Rice - England (Fitness)
Bukayo Saka - England (Fitness)
Noni Madueke - England (Injury)
Martin Zubimendi - Spain (Fitness)
William Saliba - France (Fitness)
Gabriel - Brazil - (Injury)
Piero Hincapié - Ecuador (Injury)
Jurrien Timber - Netherlands (Injury)
Martin Odegaard also missed international duty, but he was not called up as he continued with his road to recovery.
Arteta confirmed that Odegaard and Timber would be available for selection once again on Saturday evening.
When asked about who would be available for the FA Cup tie, Arteta kept his cards close to his chest, saying,
“You will see, I will continue the speculation so you can do it and you can judge it afterwards, if what I say was right or you have to maybe change and delete and write something else.”