In Arsenal’s first post-Interlull outing since losing the League Cup final on March 22nd, a stretch of 12 match-free days, on Saturday the Gunners travel to Championship side Southampton in the FA Cup quarterfinals. It is an important occasion for Arsenal in several ways, firstly to regain positive momentum to erase any doubts that may have arisen from Arsenal’s first loss since their home defeat to Manchester United in late January. Secondly, advancing in this competition is likely to be an essential aspect of Arsenal’s bid to make their season as successful as it has looked for months like it could be, with the prospect of multiple trophies looming at the end of our long exertions.
In his pre-match comments Mikel Arteta addressed the need for the team to get back to winning ways, saying: “When (we) didn’t manage to win that final…what you have to take on board is how this is going to make us stronger for the final push of the season.” With Arsenal now still competing in only three competitions, Arteta must balance his priorities just right in all team selection decisions in order to get the most out of his injury-strapped squad, and Saturday’s match provides the first of many interesting tests for him in that regard between now and the end of the season.
The opposition
As of March 22nd, the Saints were in sixth place in the Championship table after going unbeaten in their last 12 league games, qualifying them for the ultimate spot in the promotion play-offs, level on points with Wrexham but ahead of the Welsh side on goal difference. Southampton travel to Wrexham next Tuesday in what must surely be a massive league fixture in their minds, to be played the same afternoon Arsenal face Sporting Lisbon in the away leg of their Champions League quarterfinal.
Earlier this season Southampton’s board appointed manager Tonda Eckert after he performed well in an interim role, and few second tier clubs have been in better form since that time. It may be too late for Saints to earn an automatic return to the Premier League, but they have moved into the top six places in the Championship and their positive momentum will be difficult to contain. Saints have beaten Doncaster, Leicester and Fulham to reach this quarterfinal, and they are enjoying their best FA Cup run since reaching this stage in 2022. The Saints are currently unbeaten in 14 games in all competitions, having won 10 of those matches.
Arsenal team news
Our long-missing and long-missed captain Martin Odegaard is said to be targeting this tie for a return from a knee injury after laboring to get back to full fitness, but Arteta will be closely monitoring his minutes so he may or may not be in the starting XI.
Arsenal had 15 first-team players involved in international matches, with Calafiori, Gyokeres and Norgaard in World Cup play-offs. All three of them played a significant number of minutes during their respective qualifiers. Saka, Rice, Madueke and White were originally all in the senior England squad, which faced Uruguay and Japan at Wembley, but only White featured much as the others thankfully dropped out early. Lewis-Skelly and Setford had England Under-21 Euro qualifiers away to Andorra and home in Norwich. Dowman played England under-19s Euro qualifiers in Portugal.
Martinelli traveled to North America for Brazil’s two friendlies. Raya, Zubimendi and Mosquera joined Spain for two home matches, while Havertz’s Germany played away and home. Hincapie joined Ecuador for two matches played in Europe. Eze (calf), Saliba (ankle), Gabriel (knee), Timber (groin) and Trossard (hip) missed their respective internationals due to injury, but the latter four could be in line for a return.
Madueke (knee) and Hincapie (hamstring) both limped out of their friendlies on the first Friday so both of them will miss this tie. In his pre-match presser Arteta said Madueke could be back in the squad within a few days: “Noni was really worried after he was (recently) out for six weeks. But no, he’s nowhere near that injury, so that was really good news.” But Arteta’s assessment of Hincapie’s injury was not so positive, confirming that it will keep the defender out for an indefinite period of time.
Arsenal XI
Largely by process of elimination, selecting players who are healthy and capable of winning the tie but who have travelled minimally during the break, Arteta seems to have little choice but to pick a side like this one:
Kepa
White Mosquera Gabriel Lewis-Skelly
Dowman Rice Havertz
Saka Jesus Trossard
Even if Arteta were to play a significantly weakened lineup, by bringing in Salmon at right back for instance, the Gunners should still have enough to win but must be ready for a proper battle because Saints will certainly offer significant resistance and threat in front of their own fans. Arsenal’s Tuesday Champions League quarterfinal at Sporting Lisbon must be an important consideration in Arteta’s planning, and he may not risk a number of top players or minimize the number of minutes they play. On Friday, el jefe described his thought process like this: “We are going to make the strongest line-ups and decisions that we possibly can to win every competition. We are two or three games away in the FA Cup and we know how important that competition is for us.”
Taking Arteta at his word, I expect Arsenal to come out with a spring in their step and to blow away a determined Saints side with a touch of quality here and a staunch determination all around to finish the season strongly. 3-0 to the away side.
Enjoy the watch, ‘holics.
Good stuff, bt8 but you are far more optimistic than I am. I think the result will be a lot closer. I cannot recall us producing such a decisive victory at Southampton (though I’m sure we have done) but I can recall several abject performances and disappointing results. We appear to have a tradition of underperforming there and furthermore, we go into this tie with a rather more threadbare squad than we might have expected when we started the season. I do hope the Saints will prioritise their league game with Wrexham the result of which will have far more influence upon their league status next season (and income) than this game. Perhaps that will help us lay the ghost/kill the hoodoo/etc.
I think you’re correct in your keeper and back 4 selection and forward line but I don’t see MA8 selecting your midfield. With the attacking instincts of Dowman and Havertz and Rice playing as a single holding midfielder, I would expect any fairly competent Championship side to dominate the midfield and send runners through it. Moreover, I can’t see Dowman starting and certainly not in the midfield battleground – he may be a second half ‘finisher’. I expect Nørgaard or Zubimendi to start in midfield alongside Rice and perhaps Havertz as ‘right 8’.
Any kind of win would be extremely nice!
A very optimistic preview Bt8 for which many thanks .
To reference Bath’s point we did thrash Southampton 5-0 en route to what I think was the FA Cup win in 2017 but we went out to them during Covid times a few years later .
I see the side differently
I’d expect something like
Kepa
Timber Mosquera Gabriel MLS
Norgaard Rice Odegaard
Saka Gyokeres Trossard ( although I would start Dowman wide )
Bench – Raya , White. Salmon , Calafiori , Havertz , Ibrahim , Martinelli , Jesus , Annous
I agree with Bath that it could be tight . They won at Fulham in the last round .
I expect us to win 2-1 . I know the Countrymen are going to venture south and I wish them a safe and happy trip which will end on Easter Sunday
Thanks bt8, an excellent preview and I think I agree with you on
the importance of winning this one despite the argument I’ve heard
from a couple of gooners that we might be better off going out.
We have just read about The Invincibles, who in fact went out of League and FA cups in the semis and the CL in the QFs, but we also read of also other title winning teams who won the double – it is difficult to assert with any confidence it is a defining point either way really.
Winning is more fun than building character by losing 😉
No idea what XI MA will choose but I will have a stab at it anyway…..
Kepa
White Saliba Gabriel MLS
Norgaard Rice Odegaard
Dowman Jesus Martinelli
We can have a strong bench despite some injuries and it should be
enough for this one. Southampton have injury / suspension problems of their own in
the centers of defence and midfield so I think I’d go for 2-0 to The Arsenal.
Thanks bt8 for a thoughtful and optimistic review.
I am optimistic that most of those who were nursing minor injuries over the international break would be fighting fit for at least the Lisbon match, and some of them for tomorrow. Away matches at St. Mary’s have recently been a rather unpleasant set of experiences, but all the more reasons for the necessary vigilance and determination in seeing this out, if at all such reasons are needed by the team. Another day at Wembley is good enough.
While I understand the rationale behind your team selection, I have by now learnt to trust Mikel’s reluctance to veer too far from the script. If he were a cinema director, he would be more like a Scorsese and not at all like a Godard – innovation in the methods, and not methods of innovation.
My predicted starting line-up:
Kepa
White-Mosquera-Gabriel-Calafiori
Ødegaard-Rice-Havertz
Saka-Jesus-Trossard
Gyökeres, Timber, Martinelli, Dowman on the bench with Salmon, Raya, Saliba and MLS.
We need a controlled, efficient performance, playing the football we want to play. A couple of goals within the regular 90 minutes to start what’s hopefully going to be a wonderful and memorable closing few weeks of the season.
Come on Arsenal!
Cheers, bt8. Your optimism is infectious. I would be happy to come away with a 2-0 win and no fresh injuries. It is a cup game, so it will be a bit of a scrap, regardless. The team is anyone’s guess but I’m sure Artteta will run truw to form in picking hia strongest available side.
Cheers bt8. Southampton may have other priorities now they’ve hauled themselves back in the play-off places, but like Ned, I expect a typical scrappy Cup match, which I think we will just edge.
Cheers bt8 – certainly optimistic given our recent history at St Mary’s !
I’m right there with TTG on team selection apart from Kepa. I would expect Southampton to press quite enthusiasticly and Kepa’s distribution is pants. So to preserve my own, Raya between the sticks, please 🙏🏻
Oh, and Norgaard to start instead of Rice, please.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/apr/04/arsenal-max-dowman-related-to-gunners-legend-george-male
Thanks bt8
We need a win, not just to progress but also to maintain confidence and momentum across all areas.
2-0 will do fine with no more injuries please.
UTA.
I love your positivity, bt8. Tonight’s game will be a toughie. Arsenal games versus the Saints are invariably so, particularly in Southampton. While I don’t know how they’re able to introduce sufficient kryptonite into the occasion to diminish our potency, I do know that we’ll need to marshal all of our superpowers to come away with a win.
I expect Mikel to start the stronger team at his disposal. I do hope to see Max on the field for at least 30 minutes. I’ll be very satisfied by a win of any colour, size or persuasion.
Youngest granddaughter has joined the ranks of Saints supporters on the basis that “Daddy can’t be the only one in the family who doesn’t support Arsenal”. Not a pleasing development.
I think that ship has sailed, BtM – sounds like it all went wrong with Daddy 🤷♂️
Sins of the fathers and all that…
OM@10: Thanks for that link. A charming story in its own way, but once upon a time it wouldn’t have been considered worthy of a feature on BBC Sport. TImes change.
George Male would certainly make my all-time Herbert Chapman-George Allison-Tom Whitaker-era XI. He was originally a bit-part left winger, and there is a story that he was summoned to see Chapman one day. He went into the manager’s office thinking that he was going to be told that he was being sold, and walked out convinced by Chapman that he was the best right back in the country — which he turned out to be.
Adrian Clarke provided this useful insight on our opponents on the club website:
“Tonda Eckert is a head coach who wants to play exciting, attacking football and the Saints are largely doing that in the Championship, using a 4-2-3-1 formation. Moving away from the back three inherited, Southampton have become more fluid and front-footed across the past five months.
“They are a possession-based outfit who average a 57.2% share of the ball, but up against us it is sure to be different. Eckert’s men will still try to play out from the back and go short through the thirds, but they will undoubtedly adopt more of a counterattacking strategy than usual. We saw that in the fifth round when they beat Fulham 1-0 with just 32% of possession, posing real danger on the counter.
“Southampton’s Leo Scienza, a left winger, is their best ball carrier on breakaways, so if he starts the Brazilian will be a threat. They also have the likes of Tom Fellows, an old school wide man who crosses well, and Fin Azaz, an attacking midfielder of guile, who will relish the opportunity to shine against us.
“Set pieces are a major strength. Full back Ryan Manning boasts a superb left foot which can create chaos from corners, or wide free kicks. He is also capable of curling direct free kicks into the top corner too. Our quarter-final opponents have netted 21 times from dead-ball situations in 2025/26; an impressive haul which is only bettered by Championship leaders Coventry City.
“Southampton can be fragile at the back. Giving up plenty of chances, there are currently 13 second tier sides with a better expected goals against record than them. Perhaps not the quickest in defence, Mikel Arteta may target them with our superior speed on Saturday evening.”
Here’s hoping we put one over on young Mr. Tonda.
In that picture above it does look a bit like Mikel is practicing his sword fighting sp perhaps that preparation will come in useful.
Team to play Southampton: Arrizabalaga, White, Mosquera, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly, Norgaard, Odegaard, Havertz, Dowman, Martinelli, Jesus
Subs: Raya, Saliba, Gyokeres, Madueke, Calafiori, Zubimendi, Harriman-Annous, O’Neill, Salmon
COYG
COYGS!
Good to see Noni makes the bench, but no Declan, Bukayo and Jurrien
Time to roll up the sleeves, think we
need VG on
Noni and VG on
Could do with a bit of flat-track bullying from VG here
Though I can’t honestly say we look more likely to score just now
Bad defending bollocks
Poor showing.
I’m I surprised? Not really, haven’t been happy since I heard the draw. We invariably fail to impress down there.
Very poor tonight and Saints deserved to win. Scoreline could have been worse frankly. Some very poor performances. Only highlight, apart from Max, was the starring performance of the Countrymen on TV – although both looked rather sober as we were 1-0 down at the time.
Our much vaunted deep squad is perhaps not quite as deep as we all hoped. Hopefully Gabi’s injury isn’t too serious.
Have to move on, a bigger game on Tuesday.
Defend better
Apologies for my overoptimistic preview. Maybe it was worth a try but hard headed realism does have its proper place. Win the next one, and get some players healthy by all means.
Very disappointing. Need to get back on the horse on Tuesday evening.
@28 it was a good preview bt8, never shoot the messenger!
OM@30: Words to live by.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>