Arsenal will be aiming to bounce back from a poor defeat to Burnley when they host in-form Southampton at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday.
The Gunners find themselves all the way down in 15th place in the Premier League, while Southampton are 4th – ten points ahead of Arsenal and just two points off the top.
Arsenal were beaten 1-0 by Burnley on Sunday, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scoring an own goal with 15 minutes remaining.
Earlier in the second half, Granit Xhaka was sent off for grabbing Burnley midfielder Ashley Westwood by the throat.
Mikel Arteta’s men are now without a win in their previous five Premier League games – registering one draw and four defeats in that time.
They have also failed to score in four of their last four league matches – firing blanks against Aston Villa, Leeds, Tottenham and Burnley.
The Gunners have officially made their worst start to a season since 1974/75, with a five-point gap between them and the relegation zone.
By contrast, things could not be going much better for Southampton. The south coast side secured their seventh win in ten league games with victory over Sheffield United on Sunday.
Goals from Che Adams, Stuart Armstrong and Nathan Redmond saw Saints crush the Blades 3-0 – keeping them within two points of frontrunners Spurs and Liverpool.
It is worth pointing out that Southampton have only lost one of their last 11 away matches in the Premier League.
Saints are also the joint-third highest scorers in the division (24). Only Liverpool (27) and Chelsea (25) have scored more goals this term.
However, with just five points separating the top eight teams, Southampton can’t afford to get complement.
Head-to-head: Remarkably, Southampton have only managed to win three of their last 21 top-flight meetings with Arsenal.
The Gunners are unbeaten against Saints in their last three encounters, with Southampton’s last victory in this fixture coming in 2018.
Team news: Granit Xhaka will be suspended for Wednesday’s clash, although Nicolas Pepe will return from a suspension of his own.
Injured Thomas Partey is also likely to miss out for Arsenal, while Gabriel Martinelli, David Luiz, Sead Kolasinac and Reiss Nelson are all doubts.
As for Southampton, Sam McQueen remains a long-term absentee. Ralph Hasenhuttl has no fresh injury concerns.
This matchup brings together two teams in contrasting form. Southampton are flying at the top, while Arsenal are languishing towards the bottom end of the table.
Forebet predicts that this game will follow the form guide. Southampton are expected to score over 2.5 goals on their way to victory over Arsenal on Wednesday.