Mikel Arteta to make five Arsenal changes vs Southampton as Martin Odegaard starts

Arsenal face off against Southampton in the FA Cup quarter-final at St Mary’s on Saturday evening.

The Gunners suffered a disappointing loss in the Carabao Cup final prior to the international break.

Manchester City ran out comfortable 2-0 victors. They were partly assisted by Kepa Arrizabalaga’s error.

Arsenal will be aiming to return to winning ways tomorrow and avoid a potential Cupset.

Manager Mikel Arteta could make as many as five changes to the starting XI from the League Cup final.

Goalkeeper switch

Arrizabalaga made a costly handling error, which gifted Nico O’Reilly with the opening goal in the Carabao Cup final. Arsenal did not recover from the setback as the Cityzens soon doubled their advantage through O’Reilly. Arteta had no regrets about his decision to start Arrizabalaga, but we fully expect him to be dropped in favour of regular goalkeeper David Raya against the Saints.

New full-backs

Jurrien Timber was spotted in training in the lead-up to the Man City game but was not deemed fit enough to make the squad. The Netherlands star is aiming to return this weekend and could be drafted straight into the starting XI ahead of Ben White at right-back.

Riccardo Calafiori came off the bench to replace Piero Hincapie at left-back in the final. He had a lively cameo. The Italian completed 100 percent of his passes. He had a shot on target, with another hitting the woodwork. The 23-year-old should be rewarded with a starting spot.

Odegaard finally returns

Martin Odegaard has been on the sidelines for the last month with a nagging knee problem. He was close to making the squad for the final, but was left out in the end. The Norwegian star is pushing to return against the Saints and could be reinstated straight into the starting XI.

With Eberechi Eze injured, the door is open for the captain to slot into his regular number 10 position. Kai Havertz barely impressed from the role at Wembley and could drop to the bench. Despite his injury woes, Odegaard has six goal contributions in his last nine league appearances.

Gabriel Martinelli starts

Leandro Trossard has looked like a shadow of the player from the first half of the campaign. The Belgian has suffered a drastic dip in form and has not scored in his last 18 matches, with just three assists. He was wasteful in the final, failing to register a single shot on target in 82 minutes.

Gabriel Martinelli has been much more effective outside of the Premier League this campaign. He has netted four times in the FA Cup alone and looks a front-runner to feature over Trossard on the left wing. The 24-year-old scored in Brazil’s 3-1 victory over Croatia this week, coming off the bench.

Stats from Transfermarkt.com & Sofascore.com

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