Arsenal will face South coast side Southampton in a thrilling Premier League encounter on Sunday at the Emirates. But the Gunners will have to beware of the Saints’ hitman Charlie Austin who ended Arsenal’s unbeaten streak of 22 games earlier in December.
Unai Emery’s side currently sits in fifth place on the Premier League table and could move into the top four with a win against Southampton if Manchester United lose or draw to Liverpool. It will be a major boost for Arsenal, who are keen to play in the Champions League next season but they have a task on their hands.
All were positive and happy for Arsenal when Emery implemented his philosophy on his players and the North London side was grinding out results as well as winning comfortably in the early stages of the season. The Spaniard guided Arsenal to an unbeaten run of 22 games but Southampton was the club who ended the fairy-tale run.
The last time these two sides met in December, Arsenal scored twice through Henrikh Mkhitaryan but still ended up taking zero points back to the Emirates. Charlie Austin was the man who was the reason for that. The English striker always seems to score against Arsenal and his late winner five minutes from full time ensured that Arsenal’s unbeaten run came to an end.
Austin has now scored in each of the last three games that he has played against Arsenal and will be hoping to do the same. Last season at the Emirates, the 29-year-old scored in next to no time but Arsenal managed to make a comeback and win 3-2. However, in the reverse fixture back in December 2017, Austin gave Southampton the lead against Arsenal at Saint May’s but the two teams shared the spoils.
STAT: Southampton number ten Charlie Austin has scored in all five of his Premier League matches against Arsenal. Only Raheem Sterling, against AFC Bournemouth, has a better 100 per cent record of scoring in every match against an opponent in the competition.
Austin will be licking his lips at the prospect of facing Arsenal again and especially against a defense that is known to concede goals on a regular basis. Hopefully, Arsenal can cope with the strong centre-forward.
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