Southampton host Arsenal on Sunday looking to win successive Premier League meetings for the first time since 2015. So, where are the Saints XI that beat the Gunners 4-0 now?
Ronald Koeman treated the St Mary’s crowd on Boxing Day seven years ago as his squad beat Arsene Wenger’s. Cuco Martina only took 19 minutes to hit the first goal of the game. Sadio Mane, Shane Long, Jose Fonte and Dusan Tadic then helped to stretch the scoreline.
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The result threw the form book out the window as Southampton had lost four of their last five Premier League games. Arsenal would have gone to the top of the table with a win, as well. Shutting the Gunners out also marked the Saints’ first clean sheet in six league games.
Southampton will aim to repeat their 2015 feat by beating Arsenal on Sunday
Southampton’s 4-0 win also meant the Saints had beaten Arsenal in back-to-back Premier League games for the first time. The south coast side had edged the Gunners 2-0 at home in January 2015. They now get a chance to repeat the feat on Sunday after April’s 1-0 win.
Jan Bednarek put a dent in Arsenal’s efforts to qualify for the Champions League when the centre-back scored Southampton’s only goal. Mikel Arteta’s team could not respond to the Poland international’s 44th-minute attempt, scored as the Gunners failed to clear a corner.
Arsenal will visit Southampton this weekend atop the table with a four-point advantage on Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur. Ralph Hasenhuttl’s Saints, on the other hand, sit in 14th. They also ended a five-match winless run 1-0 at AFC Bournemouth on Wednesday.
So ahead of Southampton hosting Arsenal trying to claim back-to-back wins, HITC Football takes a look at where the Saints XI that beat the Gunners 4-0 in December 2015 are now…
Maarten Stekelenburg (GK): Ajax ace started in Southampton XI to beat Arsenal 4-0
Maarten Stekelenburg featured between the sticks in the Southampton XI that beat Arsenal 4-0. Yet the Gunners rarely tested the Dutchman as they produced a lacklustre display at St Mary’s. Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott missing free headers helped to his clean sheet.
The 40-year-old had joined Southampton on a season-long loan from Fulham in July 2015. He featured in 17 top-flight games with the Saints for six clean sheets altogether. The 63-cap stopper then joined Everton from 2016 to 2020 before re-joining his former side Ajax.
Cuco Martina (RB): Free agent scored Southampton’s first goal to beat Arsenal 4-0
Martina marked his first Premier League start by sensationally scoring Southampton’s first goal as they beat Arsenal 4-0. The right-back unleashed an outside-of-the-foot rocket that started well wide of the post before swerving in. It would prove to be his only Saints goal.
The 33-year-old, who is now a free agent, featured 36 times with Southampton across all competitions from 2015 to 2017. He then enjoyed spells at Everton and Go Ahead Eagles. While the Toffees also loaned the 57-cap Curacao captain out to Stoke City and Feyenoord.
Virgil van Dijk (CB): Liverpool signed the Dutchman for a world record fee in 2018
Virgil van Dijk could have added to Arsenal’s misery as Southampton beat the Gunners 4-0 had the referee not ruled the Dutchman’s header out for offside. Koeman had signed his compatriot from Scottish Premiership giants Celtic four months earlier in a £13m transfer.
Southampton would eventually net a world record fee for a defender when Van Dijk joined Liverpool in January 2018. The Reds paid £75m for the 31-year-old, who is now the Holland captain. He has also gone on to win the Champions League and Premier League at Anfield.
Jose Fonte (CB): Lille captain led Southampton to a 4-0 win at home to Arsenal
Fonte skippered the Southampton ship as the Saints beat Arsenal on Boxing Day in 2015. A bullet header from the defender on 69 minutes would also add to the scoring when he met Ryan Bertrand’s corner. It was one of 15 goals the 38-year-old scored in 288 Saints outings.
The Portuguese took over the Southampton captaincy in 2014 and kept the armband up to joining West Ham United in January 2017 for £8m. Yet Fonte only stayed in east London to February 2018 and joining DL Yifang, who sold him to his current team LOSC Lille that July.
Ryan Bertrand (LB): Leicester signed the left-back as a free agent in 2021
Leicester City hired Bertrand as a free agent in July 2021 after the left-back let his contract at Southampton lapse. The 33-year-old had played 240 times for eight goals and 20 assists at St Mary’s between 2014 and his exit. But injuries have ravished his time with Leicester.
Jordy Clasie (CDM): Dutch anchor is still at Alkmaar after his 2019 transfer
Jordy Clasie joined Southampton from Feyenoord in July 2015 for £8m before returning to his native Netherlands at his current team AZ Alkmaar in 2019. The in-between four years saw the 31-year-old play just 49 fixtures with the Saints, with his final outing in May 2017.
Victor Wanyama (CDM): Montreal midfielder is set to leave the MLS side
Victor Wanyama has confirmed that he will leave MLS franchise CF Montreal at the end of the 2022 season, via 90min. The 64-cap Kenya anchor joined the club in March 2020 after leaving Tottenham. He spent four years in north London following three years at St Mary’s.
James Ward-Prowse (RM): Southampton captain will eye his fifth win over Arsenal
James Ward-Prowse will eye his fifth win over Arsenal when the Gunners visit Southampton on Sunday. The Saints skipper has won four and drawn six of his previous 19 meetings with the Gunners across all competitions. He also has one goal and two assists, all in the league.
Sadio Mane (CAM): Bayern Munich signed the Senegal star from Liverpool in June
Bayern Munich signed Mane from Liverpool in June for an initial £27.5m, rising £7.5m with add-ons. The Senegalese sensation’s switch saw the Reds recoup most of the £34m, rising to £36m, fee the Anfield natives paid Southampton in June 2016 for the now-30-year-old.
Mane left Merseyside as a Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup winner who hit 120 and created 49 goals over 269 games. He had given the Saints 25 goals and 14 assists over 75 games. His Southampton haul included one assist as they beat Arsenal 4-0 in 2015.
Steven Davis (LM): Rangers re-signed the veteran midfielder from Southampton
Steven Davis spent seven years at Southampton from 2012 to 2019 before he returned to Rangers permanently. The Saints had bought the midfielder from the Gers, for whom the 37-year-old still plays. He went on to get 226 games, 14 goals and 26 assists at St Mary’s.
Shane Long (ST): Reading striker’s brace helped Southampton beat Arsenal 4-0
Long started and scored twice in the Southampton XI that beat Arsenal 4-0 in 2015. The 35-year-old came through a collision with Laurent Koscielny to finish from close range 10 minutes into the second half. He grabbed another in the second minute of stoppage time.
Southampton called on Long’s services between a £12m transfer from Hull City in 2014 to joining Reading as a free agent this July. The 88-cap Republic of Ireland international hit 37 and created 27 goals through 245 games as a Saints player – scoring three against Arsenal.
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