LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 09: Emile Smith Rowe of Arsenal celebrates after scoring their sides first goal during the FA Cup Third Round match between Arsenal and Newcastle United at Emirates Stadium on January 09, 2021 in London, England. The match will be played without fans, behind closed doors as a Covid-19 precaution. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Creativity returns: How Arsenal could lineup vs Southampton

Jan 26, 2021

After defeat in the FA Cup, let’s take a look at our latest Arsenal predicted lineup vs Southampton, in the Premier League this time.

Arsenal's Spanish manager Mikel Arteta reacts during the English Premier League football match between Everton and Arsenal at Goodison Park in Liverpool, north west England on December 19, 2020. (Photo by Jon Super / POOL / AFP) — Arsenal’s Spanish manager Mikel Arteta reacts during the English Premier League football match between Everton and Arsenal at Goodison Park in Liverpool, north-west England on December 19, 2020. (Photo by Jon Super / POOL / AFP)

Southampton picked the stronger starting lineup against Arsenal on Saturday, clearly going for the win whilst Mikel Arteta chose to rotate. Unfortunately, that decision and a Gabriel own goal saw the Gunners exiting the FA Cup early.

The likes of Kieran Tierney and Emile Smith Rowe stayed at home at the weekend, but they should be back involved next game. Arteta’s side need to push for a win to prove it was worth rotating.

Here’s our Arsenal predicted lineup vs Southampton for this Tuesday.

Goalkeeper

LONDON, ENGLAND: Bernd Leno of Arsenal celebrates with teammate Pablo Mari of Arsenal after making a penalty save during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Chelsea at Emirates Stadium on December 26, 2020. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images) — LONDON, ENGLAND: Bernd Leno of Arsenal celebrates with teammate Pablo Mari of Arsenal after making a penalty save during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Chelsea at Emirates Stadium on December 26, 2020. Leno makes our Arsenal predicted lineup vs Southampton (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Bernd Leno may have more competition following Mat Ryan’s arrival, and he also may have ended his run of clean sheets by conceding against Tuesday’s opponents at the weekend, but we’re still expecting him to start this one.

Leno only conceded to one rather unfortunate own goal, and his run of five games without conceding was very impressive. He’ll look to get it going again with a clean sheet in midweek.

Defence

arsenal fc v watford fc premier league 6 — LONDON, ENGLAND: David Luiz of Arsenal warms up prior to the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Watford FC at Emirates Stadium on July 26, 2020. Luiz makes our Arsenal predicted lineup vs Southampton. (Photo by Rui Vieira/Pool via Getty Images)

Gabriel Magalhaes made his return over the weekend, but he struggled in the first half. Though his performance improved as the match went on, he’ll probably drop out for David Luiz given there’s such a short break between games.

Pablo Mari is still injured for the time being, and neither Shkodran Mustafi nor Calum Chambers look likely to start. So it’ll be another appearance for Rob Holding alongside Luiz.

Hector Bellerin came off early at the weekend, which will allow him to start this one. Kieran Tierney should retake his place on the opposite flank.

Midfield

Thomas Partey will surely come back in after dropping to the bench at the weekend.

He’s only just back from injury, so starting Mohamed Elneny in the cup made sense, but Elneny was largely at fault as Arsenal conceded, whilst Partey looked strong when he came on.

Granit Xhaka will probably start alongside Partey. Dani Ceballos is an injury doubt and Xhaka seems to have the left-central-midfield role nailed down at the moment.

Emile Smith Rowe will start at 10, as there seemingly isn’t a player at the club capable of replacing him in that role right now. Fortunately, the links to Martin Odegaard are growing stronger by the day.

Forwards

Gabriel Martinelli back in training with Arsenal (Photo via Twitter) — Gabriel Martinelli in training with Arsenal. Martinelli makes our Arsenal predicted lineup vs Southampton again. (Photo via Twitter)

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s situation is uncertain, so for now, we’ll assume he’s unavailable due to his family issue. That leaves Gabriel Martinelli as the most likely to start ahead of him, particularly as Martinelli came off early on Saturday.

Bukayo Saka and Alexandre Lacazette are the obvious choices for the other two positions. Nicolas Pepe created the vast majority of Arsenal’s chances at the weekend, but Saka’s performances make him difficult to drop from the first-choice lineup.