Southampton fans have the right to be worried after watching their side take just one point from their opening six Premier League games.
The joy of winning promotion back to the top flight is slowly being zapped out of Southampton after discovering the challenge that lies ahead.
The Saints’ only point came against fellow promoted side Ipswich Town, who snatched an equaliser in the dying embers.
Russell Martin’s men then followed that up with a bitterly disappointing 3-1 defeat at the hands of Bournemouth, with Graham Potter issuing an alarming verdict on Southampton.
Martin was criticised in their defeat to the Cherries for his decision to go without a striker as talented winger Tyler Dibling led the line instead.
The Southampton manager will correct that mistake this weekend and perhaps give Ross Stewart his first start however, that isn’t expected to alter the outcome of their result against Arsenal.
Paul Merson’s prediction for Arsenal vs Southampton
Just when Southampton needed a chance to get three points on the board, Arsenal being their next fixture erases that opportunity.
Although it isn’t beyond the realms of possibility that the South Coasters pull off an upset at the Emirates Stadium, it’s highly unlikely.
The title contenders have lost just one of their last 12 games at home and have started this campaign with four wins and two draws in their first six.
It makes the challenge of taking a positive result back from North London a ginormous one, with Paul Merson unsurprisingly predicting Arsenal to thrash Southampton 4-0.
In his column for Sportskeeda, the former Gunners star issued his worries for Martin’s side, especially after the battering they took against Bournemouth on Monday.
“I look at this fixture and I can’t see anything but a win for Arsenal,” Merson wrote. “Southampton were atrocious against Bournemouth last time out. If they play like that against Arsenal, I can’t even imagine how bad the scoreline would look at the end of 90 minutes!
“Arsenal were cruising against Leicester but ended up conceding twice in that game before snatching a late win. The fact that they eventually managed to get all three points in that game is commendable. So I’m backing Arsenal to secure a comfortable win – four goals to nothing.
“I worry for Southampton. The last game against Bournemouth was a fixture they should be looking at and thinking of getting a result. But instead, they got absolutely battered. It would be hard to imagine them getting something from this game.”
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Southampton must use Leicester inspiration vs Arsenal
Leicester shocked the Emirates last weekend when James Justin netted a brace to make the scoreline 2-2.
Some Foxes fans would have hoped that they could have held on for a point but sadly, Arsenal scored twice through a Wilfred Ndidi own goal and a Kai Havertz strike to seal all three points.
Steve Cooper’s side were commended for how resolutely they defended throughout the 90 minutes, and although it wasn’t enough to clinch a result, they did come dangerously close to doing so.
Southampton boss Martin must their performance as inspiration to try to secure an unlikely result. If the Saints play their usual possession based style at the Emirates, they will be carved open at will and the likes of Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli will have a field.
Instead, they need to deploy a bit of a deeper block and soak up the huge pressure while hitting the Gunners on the break.