Last Word on Football brings you the latest team news and the confirmed lineups for Southampton vs Arsenal in the FA Cup quarter-final at St Mary’s. Arsenal will be eager to bounce back to winning ways after losing to Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final. Southampton are in good form, with four wins and a draw in their last five league games. In the previous round of the cup, the Saints upset Fulham, winning 1-0 through a last-minute penalty from Ross Stewart.
Southampton vs Arsenal, Team News and Confirmed Lineups
Southampton Team News
Southampton head coach Tonda Eckert spoke about the importance of embracing the pressures of the game:
“All of the pressure is on us, and it needs to be. I think if you want to win a game of football, the pressure is always on you. It’s for us to take that as it comes and make sure we play a good game.”
Eckert will be without the suspended duo Flynn Downes and Kuryu Matsuki. Leo Scienza and Ross Stewart are back in training, while Jack Stephens’ situation is improving “every day.”
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Arsenal Team News
In his pre-match press conference, Mikel Arteta discussed Noni Madueke’s injury and its severity:
“No, it’s not. It looked really bad, and Noni was really worried, especially after what happened to him in his other knee a few weeks ago, and he was out for six weeks. But no, he’s nowhere near that injury, so that was really good news.”
When asked if he would be missing for only days, Arteta said: “I think so.”
Discussing Eberechi Eze’s availability, Arteta said: “Ebz is out; with Ebz I cannot put a finger on it because I don’t know, because he’s a special character.”
“Those are in contention to possibly be in the squad,” Arteta added regarding the availability of Martin Zubimendi and Jurrien Timber.
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Southampton Confirmed Lineup
Starting XI: Peretz, Bree, Harwood-Bellis, Wood, Manning, Bragg, Jander, Fellows, Azaz, Scienza, Stewart
Subs: Long, Quarshie, Romeu, Charles, Edozie, Robinson, Archer, Oyekunle, Larin
Arsenal Confirmed Lineup
Starting XI: Arrizabalaga, White, Mosquera, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly, Norgaard, Odegaard, Havertz, Dowman, Martinelli, Jesus
Subs: Raya, Saliba, Gyokeres, Madueke, Calafiori, Zubimendi, Harriman-Annous, O’Neill, Salmon
Featured Image Credit:
IMAGO / NurPhoto
