{"id":404,"date":"2026-03-31T12:18:24","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T12:18:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/disport.com.ng\/?p=404"},"modified":"2026-03-31T12:18:24","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T12:18:24","slug":"how-arsenal-could-line-up-against-southampton-without-10-injured-players-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/?p=404","title":{"rendered":"How Arsenal could line-up against Southampton without 10 injured players | Football"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\n\t\t\"Arsenal\t<\/div>
Mikel Arteta\u2019s squad has been badly affected by injuries (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The international break has brought mixed news for Mikel Arteta on the injury front with 10 senior first team players heading back to London Colney in varying states of disrepair. <\/p>\n

Arsenal\u2019s quadruple pursuit ended just over a week ago when they were well beaten by Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final and the Gunners aren\u2019t back in competitive action until this weekend\u2019s FA Cup tie at Southampton.<\/p>\n

Quite what side Arteta will be able to select for the trip to St Mary\u2019s remains to be seen and the picture is sure to change over the course of the coming days as Arsenal\u2019s medical department gets a firmer idea on the state the walking wounded are in.<\/p>\n

Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke appear almost certain to miss out with the latter seen wearing a knee brace as he walked through the mixed zone following England\u2019s 1-1 draw with Uruguay on Friday night. <\/p>\n

As for the rest,Arteta is unlikely to take risks with the likes of Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Martin Zubimendi or either of his first-choice central defenders, espcially with a Champions League quarter-final and potentially decisive Premier League game against City on the horizon.<\/p>\n

Even in light of the current situation, Arsenal should still be able to put out a strong XI against the promotion chasing Saints.<\/p>\n

Goalkeeper<\/h2>\n
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Metro<\/strong>‘s Head of Sport James Goldman delivers punchy analysis, transfer talk and his take on the week’s biggest stories direct to your inbox every week.<\/p>\n

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After his latest Wembley nightmare, Arsenal\u2019s cup keeper Kepa will likely be fearing he has played his last competitive game of the season.<\/p>\n

The summer signing from Chelsea dropped the sort of clanger that has been almost totally absent from David Raya\u2019s game since he cemented his position as the club\u2019s No.1.<\/p>\n

Raya is involved in his own battle tousurp Unai Simon as Spain\u2019s first choice ahead of the World Cup and, given the backing his club understudy received after the City debacle, he will more than likely be on the bench on the south coast.<\/p>\n

Defence<\/h2>\n
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\n\t\t\"Italy\t<\/div>
Riccardo Calafiori could come into his own in the run-in (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So important are Gabriel and William Saliba to the Arsenal cause that both are certain to be wrapped up in cotton wool for more important assignments. <\/p>\n

The France international has been managing an ankle injury throughout the season while Gabriel\u2019s knee saw him withdraw from the Brazil squad last week. <\/p>\n

Even without their twin towers of defensive power, Arsenal boast some formidable options with Riccardo Calafiori and Cristhian Mosquera the most obvious candidates to fill the central defensive positions and maintain the left and right-footed balance Arteta craves.<\/p>\n

Ben White, fresh from his England return, could well feature at right-back but teenager Marli Salmon, who started in the last round at Mansfield, could well be trusted again while, on the opposite flank, Myles Lewis-Skelly should get some much needed game time after he was suspended for the game at Field Mill. <\/p>\n

Midfield<\/h2>\n
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\n\t\t\"Tottenham\t<\/div>
Martin Odegaard could make his return after missing the last seven games (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This is where things will get slightly tricker for Arteta, especially if Rice and Zubimendi are deemed in need of more recovery time. <\/p>\n

Christian Norgaard should be well capable of anchoring the midfield and Arsenal will hope skipper Martin Odegaard is finally read to make a timely return.<\/p>\n

The captain has missed the last seven games and with Eze unavailable, the creative burden will again fall on the Norway international\u2019s shoulders. <\/p>\n

Further forward, Kai Havertz could be asked to fill the No.10 role and rotate with Odegaard to give the midfield a bit more of a physical presence when required. <\/p>\n

Attack<\/h2>\n
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\n\t\t\"Arsenal\t<\/div>
Max Dowman might be in line to start against Southampton (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Viktor Gyokeres should be heading back to Arsenal with renewed confidence after his hat-trick against Ukraine. The summer recruit from Sporting Lisbon still has one World Cup hurdle to jump, but regardless of how he gets on against Poland, he will be in line to start against Southampton.<\/p>\n

Arsenal\u2019s options on the flanks are somewhat limited, but Gabriel Martinelli has been a cup specialist this season, while Max Dowman may well get the nod on the right wing in light of his man of the match performance against the Stags in round five. <\/p>\n

How Arsenal could line-up against Southampton <\/h2>\n
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It could be a makeshift defence for Arsenal against Southampton (Picture: Metro)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Arrow<\/title>\n<\/svg>MORE: How serious are William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes injuries? Why Arsenal\u2019s concern is real<\/span><\/p>\n

Arrow<\/title>\n<\/svg>MORE: Piero Hincapie injury scare as Arsenal star withdraws from Ecuador duty following tests<\/span><\/p>\n

Arrow<\/title>\n<\/svg>MORE: Tottenham manager makes bold Arsenal claim after WSL derby defeat<\/span><\/p>\n

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Mikel Arteta\u2019s squad has been badly affected by injuries (Picture: Getty) The international break has<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":405,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=404"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}