Southampton Game Preview

So we play Southampton in about an hour. The Saints of course are the surprise package of the current Premier League Season and should they pull off an unlikely win today, there's a possibility that they could end the weekend atop the table. But that shouldn't happen.

I spoke earlier in the week of how badly Arsenal players were doing internationally. Well luckily, their fortunes improved a little. Per Mertesacker kaboomed England to defeat, The French had a night to remember and Woj kept a clean sheet for Poland. The performance from Les Bleus, even if the Arsenal influence was minimal, was something particularly special and from the look of this video, our boys will be on a high for some time to come. Don't be surprised if Bacary Sagna hits his first career hat-trick today.

On the subject of today's game, the team has just been announced. There are no real surprises with a first choice back five and front man then Arteta, Ramsey, Wilshere, Ozil and Cazorla in the middle of the park.  It's a strong side which, despite the risk that Southampton pose, should win the game. I was at this fixture last year when we totally un-beatified our opponents. I was sure that day that Southampton would go down. They were simply inept in every position and our scoring of six goals was deserved.

So they deserve a lot of credit for working their way into the position they stand today. Third in the table above the billionaires of Chelsea and Man City is a real achievement considering the season is well under way by now. They've got some real quality players including Adam Lallana who I thought did himself no harm in his first two England appearances. However, I do think we will defeat them this time.

In some ways the international break came at a good time. Some say it would have been good to get the Man United game out of our system with a win but the extended break with no games to talk about means that everyone has been focusing on the bigger picture. And our picture is pretty. By taking time to look at how well we've played in general, I think momentum has been retained where it may not have been otherwise.

Anyway. I hope we win. And Theo is eased back in. And no-one gets injured. That's not too much to ask for, right?