Missed opportunity
Tottenham's 1-0 defeat against Brighton presented Arsenal with the perfect opportunity to stamp their mark on the top-four race.
The Gunners' away contingent watched the Spurs game's final minutes on the concourse at St Mary's Stadium.
Singing, celebrations and a pre-match atmosphere of optimism could be seen during the opening minutes on the south coast, as the supporters offered their support to manager Mikel Arteta and his players.
Arsenal have won five of their last six Premier League away games, but their sudden struggle for form has come at the worst possible time in the season.
Qualification for the European Conference League is looking more likely, with games against Chelsea, Manchester United, West Ham, and Tottenham coming up within the next month.
What Mikel Arteta shouted at Nuno Tavares
Since arriving from Benfica last summer, the Portuguese left-back has had an indifferent debut campaign at Arsenal.
His underwhelming performance against Crystal Palace prompted questions over whether the defender could fill in for the injured Kieran Tierney.
However, Tavares showed at St Mary's that he possesses the potential to become a Premier League left-back, week in, week out.
As the Arsenal players retreated for a Southampton goal kick, Arteta could be seen shouting across to him and putting his thumbs up in praise of the intelligent run that his defender made.
It was a far cry from the game at Selhurst Park when Tavares was brought off at half-time and certainly shows that there is a way back for a player who many felt his days could have been numbered as an Arsenal player.
Struggling for goals
Arsenal have scored just two goals from their last 63 attempts.
It's a statistic that will make Arteta and his coaching staff wince and one that has come at the worst possible time in the season.
The departure of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang didn't make too much of a difference to Arsenal's goal output, but the lack of goals from the likes of Alexandre Lacazette, Eddie Nketiah and Gabriel Martinelli remains a concern.
Perhaps the inexperience of Nketiah and Martinelli is beginning to show in the top-flight games, where an experienced striker is needed to win games in the high-pressure moments.
football.london understands that Arsenal are in the market for at least three new players this summer, one of which will certainly be a forward with both Lacazette and Nketiah out of contract in the summer.
