Southampton look to begin their great escape and take a massive step towards Premier League survival as they travel to Premier League leaders Arsenal on Friday night.
Ruben Selles’ side head into the tie bottom of the Premier League, and four points from safety with six games left to play after this trip, with the Saints current favourites to finish bottom of the top flight.
Goals remain at a premium, though they will take hope from the fact that their best performances often come against the bigger sides, having beaten Manchester City in the League Cup and picked up draws against both Manchester United and Tottenham.
Here’s how we expect them to line up for the trip to north London.
📰 Table Of Contents
Predicted XI
Team News
Ruben Selles comes into the game with several issues throughout his squad.
Defender Ainsley Maitland-Niles will be unavailable to face his parent club, while fellow defender Tino Livramento is yet to return after suffering a knee injury at the end of last season, though he did mark his comeback with 45 minutes for the U21′s last week, and could be in line for action before the end of the season.
Meanwhile, Che Adams is facing a race against time to be fit after missing the last three games through injury, and it is possible that he will return to the squad but not the starting XI on Friday night.
Unfortunately, however, both defender Mohamed Salisu and January addition Mislav Orsic have been ruled out through their own respective injuries, leaving Selles with difficult decisions to make should he wish to change to a back three against the Premier League leaders.
