Southampton vs Arsenal Preview

January 1, 2013
By: Deke Hardman

New Year’s Days late kick off in the Premier League sees Southampton host Arsenal at St. Mary’s.

The hosts go in to the game having dropped in to the relegation zone courtesy of Cameron Jerome’s superb last minute equaliser in the thrilling 3-3 draw at Stoke City on Saturday, though victory here could see them rise to sixteenth place if other results fall in their favour.

Captain Adam Lallana is expected to miss out as he struggles to recover from a knee injury, though Gaston Ramirez could return to the starting line-up after being left on the bench at the weekend.

Top scorer Rickie Lambert now has eight for the season, and the striker is widely available at 8.5 (15/2) to add to that tally with the first goal of the game.

The Saints are as highly priced as 4.8 (19/4) to take all three points, with Arsenal odds on favourites at a best price of 1.8 (4/5). The draw can be backed at 3.8 (14/5).

Arsenal begin 2013 in fifth position, having thumped Newcastle 7-3 on Saturday evening.

Per Mertesaker should be available for selection after recovering from illness, though Abou Diaby and Andre Santos remain side-lined.

Former Saint Theo Walcott’s hat trick on Saturday took him to fourteen goals for the season, and it is perhaps unsurprising that he is favourite at 6.0 (5/1) to open the scoring here, while you can find a price of 29.0 (28/1) for the England man to get another treble.

Like Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain began his career at St. Mary’s, and he is priced at 5.0 (4/1) with Coral to follow up his weekend goal with one here.

Only Manchester United have scored more goals than the Gunners in the league, who hit six when they faced Southampton at the Emirates back in September.

They have hit five or more in four of their nineteen fixtures, and Coral offer a rather generous 17.0 (16/1) for them to do so again.

Arsene Wenger’s men are unbeaten in the nine games in which they have scored first in the league this season, winning seven times. 118 Bet offer a price of 2.90 (19/10) for them to be leading at half time and full time.

We Highly Recommend These Places
Share your Opinion!