The Saints beat the Gunners earlier this season and also claimed a goalless draw at Stamford Bridge.
Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl has issued a warning to the Premier League’s top six by stating he’s not afraid of their supposedly bigger stature and also invoking his side’s positive results against Arsenal and Chelsea this season.
The Saints head to the Emirates Stadium on Sunday hoping to complete the double over the Gunners, having ended their 22-match unbeaten run with a 3-2 win at St Mary’s back in December.
On 2 January, meanwhile, Southampton went to Stamford Bridge and held firm against the Blues, who despite having 72 per cent possession and weighing in with 17 shots, six on target, had to settle for a 0-0 draw.
Although Hasenhuttl has inspired a huge turnaround within the club compared to earlier in the season, the results have nonetheless been mixed, culminating in the Saints remaining in the Premier League’s relegation zone – albeit just one point from safety.
Following a lengthy break from competitive action and a warm-weather training camp in Tenerife, Southampton will now hope to get their survival hopes back on track and Hasenhuttl issued the defiant message in his pre-match press conference.
“We are focusing on the game against a difficult opponent, a very good opponent we beat once already this year in a big game with a fantastic performance and I think we’ll need another one,” he is quoted by BT Sport as saying.
“I’m not afraid about all the big teams because we showed against Chelsea and Arsenal that we can also play against these teams good matches and we will need to, that’s for sure… we know that we can be an opponent in an away game that’s not easy to beat, and that’s the only thing that interests us – that we can be a strong opponent, that we can take another clean sheet in London, we did against Chelsea.”
Arsenal are unbeaten in 12 Premier League home games, winning the last six in a row, but Southampton have also not lost in their last four league away games (Sky Sports).
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