Arsenal are set to face Southampton at the Emirates Stadium this evening as they continue their Premier League title race with Manchester City. Pep Guardiola's side are in FA Cup semi-final action this weekend meaning the Gunners can further extend their lead at the top of the table.
Mikel Arteta's side are sat four points clear of City heading into the game against the Saints, but have dropped points in their last two fixtures. The Gunners are sweating over the fitness of Oleksandr Zinchenko and William Saliba with Arteta providing an update on the defensive duo earlier this week.
When asked about Zinchenko and Saliba in his press conference, the Gunners boss said: "We will see with that one [Zinchenko injury] as well. It’s not certain. It’s a muscular injury and it needs some time to heal, and we are not there yet."
"No big news. The picture hasn’t changed from last week," Arteta added. "Regarding William, we still have to wait a little bit more. He is not progressing as quick as we hoped. It’s a bit delicate and we want to be very certain when we push him that he is ready to absorb the load and the risk that we will take and at the moment that’s not possible to do.”
Arteta will hope his side can go seven points clear and put pressure on City ahead of their potential title-decider at the Etihad Stadium next week. Arsenal icon Paul Merson and BBC Sport pundit Chris Sutton have given their score predictions for Arsenal's clash against Southampton.
Speaking to SportsKeeda, Merson said: "This is a big game in the title race, and Arsenal need to get back to where they were. They've run out of luck a little bit - for all the last-minute goals they've scored this season, it's coming the other way now.
"They did brilliantly to go 2-0 up against West Ham but they then got complacent. Arsenal aren't playing badly, but they are getting punished for things they got away with at the start of the season.
"This reminds me of when I was playing in 1989 - we were clear, but Liverpool caught up with us and we had to go get a result at Anfield. Bukayo Saka was incredibly brave to take a penalty after his miss at the Euros.
"People miss penalties, and I'd be shocked if he didn't take the next one for Arsenal. If you had to pick a game to bounce back this season, you'd take Southampton at home.
"I still think Arsenal will win the league this season, and they should be able to win this game."
Paul Merson's prediction: Arsenal 3-0 Southampton
Speaking to BBC Sport, Sutton agreed with Merson's prediction of an Arsenal win and said: "Arsenal will still be stinging after letting a two-goal lead slip in their draw with West Ham last weekend. It is that sort of result that makes the doubts creep in when you are a player.
"I remember when I won the title with Blackburn in 1995, we lost 3-2 at home to Manchester City in April, in a game where we led twice. We were a quite a young team, like Arsenal are now, and it hurt us.
"Compared to our title rivals that season, Manchester United, we were quite inexperienced in terms of dealing with the pressure of the final few weeks of the season. We got over the line in the end, but the City defeat was probably the first time we began to feel nervous.
"That's what might be happening at Arsenal now. Their players will have felt sick going into the dressing room at London Stadium at full-time last Sunday and dropping points like that is a very different feeling to when you draw after trailing 2-0.
"I don't think Gunners boss Mikel Arteta got it right when he said afterwards that his side looked "too comfortable" when they went ahead early on against the Hammers. He might just have been emotional at the result but he seemed to be questioning his players' mentality and I don't think we ever saw Sir Alex Ferguson doing that at United - he would have blamed the referee, or anything, instead.
"Maybe the pressure is getting to Arteta too, but his side need to start dominating games again, or at least controlling them - starting with this one. Arsenal go to Etihad Stadium on Wednesday so this is an absolutely must-win game for them to get back on track.
"It would be unthinkable for them to drop points against the bottom side - if they do, I think the title has definitely gone. It's must-win for Southampton, too, and their situation means they cannot be happy with a point whoever they are playing.
"It might actually help them that the pressure is off them a bit, because most people think they are down now, but I still don't see them getting anything at Emirates Stadium."
Chris Sutton's prediction: Arsenal 2-0 Southampton
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