Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl believes that his side's 6-0 thrashing at the hands of Chelsea at the weekend should be a wake-up call ahead of the Saints' clash with Arsenal.
Two goals apiece from Mason Mount and Timo Werner, as well as a goal each for Marcos Alonso and Kai Havertz, condemned Hasenhuttl's team to a humiliating defeat at St Mary's. Luckily, however, as always in the Premier League, games come thick and fast and the Saints now have the chance to redeem themselves by beating Mikel Arteta's Gunners on Saturday.
Arsenal endured a horrible week themselves, as a 3-0 loss to Crystal Palace last Monday was followed up with a 2-1 defeat to Brighton at the Emirates Stadium. They've now lost their grip on the top four race as rivals Tottenham Hotspur took control with a 4-0 away victory at Aston Villa.
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Unfortunately for Arteta, Hasenhuttl has insisted that there should be a reaction from his side in the coming days. A heavy defeat like the one to Chelsea could well dent the Saints' confidence, but Hasenhuttl believes it may be the wake-up call his side needs. The Austrian told our colleagues at Hampshire Live: "No, it doesn’t give confidence.
"It rings the alarm and this is what we need to see. It is no coincidence that the last clean sheet we had was against Norwich and this was a few weeks ago.
"We have to get back to a better way of defending, maybe if it is not in a high pressing way because we are not so convinced about this at the moment, it is on us, on me, to find the right decisions for this. And you can be sure that next week [against Arsenal] you will see a team defending better, this is for sure."
The game is a must-win for Arsenal in the race for Champions League football, but Southampton will be doing everything in their power to prevent that from happening.
