Charlie Nicholas has suggested that he is expecting Arsenal to come away from Southampton with a win.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger
Charlie Nicholas has told Sky Sports that he is expecting Arsenal to come away from Southampton with an impressive victory, but suggested that it will not be enough to salvage their top four hopes in the Premier League.
The Gunners go into the clash at St Mary’s six points back of the Champions League spots. And while they secured a win against Manchester United at the weekend and have a game in hand over fourth place Manchester City, it appears that time is running out for Arsene Wenger’s men.
And with the side travelling to one of their bogey grounds, it appears that Arsenal’s top four hopes could be well and truly dashed for good on Wednesday night.
But despite Arsenal not winning away at the Saints in the league since December 2003, Nicholas has suggested that his old team will keep the race going for a while longer, but was less than complimentary about one of the Gunners’ top players.
Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez
“Aaron Ramsey is playing in more of an advanced role and he’s much better when he can make those runs, while it also brings better balance to the team with him playing along with Danny Welbeck,” he told Sky Sports as he started to explain why he expects Arsenal to win 2-0.
“Their movement brings more out of Mesut Ozil compared to the static Olivier Giroud.
“They are the three most important Arsenal players at the moment as Alexis Sanchez is just pretending to be really interested, coming deep to get the ball rather than really having a go at defenders.
Southampton manager Claude Puel
“I think the pressure is off in terms of the top four and we know that suits this Arsenal team, so I’m expecting them to win this, but even if they do I still won’t be expecting them to qualify for the Champions League,” he went on to add.
Though Southampton have no chance of reaching the European spots, Claude Puel’s men will certainly be determined to pick up a positive result with mid-table pack so congested – the seven teams from Leicester to Watford are separated by three points.
And having secured back-to-back goalless draws, Arsenal may need all of their attacking players – including Sanchez – to be at it if they hope to secure a positive result.
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