I think it would still be considered a shock if we won this game. A lot of praise on the Monday night club this evening and David Armstrong interviewed saying that Southampton's performances have made him enjoy the game again. Yet most of the experts expect us to slide down the league as the games get tougher and more regular over the Xmas period. Arsenal are comfortable on the ball and have the ability to cope reasonably well with a press. I think the best way to play against us is with two strikers like united did and look to unlock us on the break, thankfully Arsenal usually just play with Giroud up top.
Notably, Claridge had Saints in 5th place over Christmas, and the points spread was tight. Not bad at all.
Yes he really likes our defensive record. Good to see Alan Shearer has a soft spot for us! Shame I never got to see him play for us
I think we'll lose, but we have every right to go there and give them a game. Put pressure on their fullbacks, they aren't as good on the ball as the rest of the team, and without Flamini being an option for a pass, they'll be easily close down and predictable. I'm feeling a 2-1 win to Arsenal but we won't be let down by our performance.
We can get anything from a three-goal loss to a two-goal win, I'd imagine. It's not coincidental that we have 13 points in 7 matches against the traditional big sides under Poch (while out-shooting all of them!), but equally it's not coincidental that an Arsenal side topping the table has been installed as significant favourites. Not expectant, but hopeful.
Claridge must be worried about that £20 bet at a 1000/1 he gave a Saints fan that we wouldn't be top at Xmas. Probably won't happen, but more possible than he would think in the summer when he took the bet.
I did my own little bit of predicting as to who might be on top by Christmas. Although it might seem unlikely, it is perfectly possible to have Saints at No1 on Christmas Day. It's going to be nip and tuck and inevitably a fair bit depends how we do against Arsenal and Chelsea. As it happens Claridge didn't make the bet, He was being barracked by one or two Saints fans on a flight back to the South, and one of them told him they had placed the bet with a bookie.
Considering the easier nature of our start I certainly wasn't expecting it but it doesn't amaze me, which isn't to say we haven't done fantastically well but I would be significantly more surprised to see us top at Christmas.
Nobody, but it's undeniable that we've had a relatively easy run compared to what is coming up. We've done very well to get a lot of points against teams which are likely to finish in the bottom half (and 4 points from Liverpool and United is excellent) but there is realistically little prospect of us keeping up the rate of 2 points per game against the top sides, even if we do get a few 'shock' results.
I'm sorry but I'd much rather see Arsenal win the league than Man U or Man City, so I'm gonna have to be supporting Arsenal in this game. Sorry guys. To be fair, I'd support Arsenal against everyone other than Portsmouth or Farnborough.
Don't blame you - if we hadn't somehow got ourselves in the mix for a top four place I wouldn't be devastated with a loss at thir place, but if Liverpool do fail to get anything from their game I'm going to really feel it that we missed probably our our chance to go top of the league before we (I suspect) start to drop off to 6th or so (unless we spend in January). I've never felt as good as I did when we were top of the Championship and was briefly gutted at coming 'only' second. We're never going to have such a good chance - teams will adapt to our style by the end of this season\next season and we'll find it a lot harder to get up there again. Our biggest chance to keep up with the big boys now is to do a smash and grab this season on a top 4 place and let the big money from the CL finance one or two more quality summer signings. So one or two in Jan and one or two more in the summer if we're CL plus a few more academy kids (anyone who supports saints will know there are some waiting) and I think we may have enough depth for next season to keep up again. otherwise, I fear we may do a Newcastle or Swansea and fall off next year as IMO our one weakness is squad depth.
We went to Old Trafford and got a draw, Arsenal got beaten. We demolished Hull, while other teams (Tottenham comes to mind) have a mighty hard time getting something from that fixture. We're in a great run of form and I wouldn't be at least bit suprised if we gained let's say 4 points from next two matches. Pochettino's record with Southampton undoubtedly proves that we know how to deal with so-called big team. It's the likes of Norwich and Stoke that worry me a great deal more. That being said, it's going to be a tough game at Emirates. I'm confident we'll put in a great performace, but we may still end up beaten. After all, Arsenal are a strong team with some amazing individuals and one moment of brilliance is enough to undone all your hard work. I would be satisfied with a draw. I think we can win at Stamford Bridge, we're no worse than WBA and Newcastle who both came very near to nicking all three points against Chelsea. Later we play City and Tottenham at St. Mary's. Considering City's troubles away from home and Tottenham's inability to score a goal, i think we're closer to winning all three points.
