Southampton and Arsenal Meet in the Highlight of This FA Cup Round
Published January 28, 2017 by Florin P
Southampton tries to extend home invincibility against Arsenal in the FA Cup and win third consecutive match (5:30 p.m UK Time).
Southampton is nowhere near the podium and their adventure in Europa League has ended abruptly. This leaves them with no other objective for the season than the FA Cup. Under these circumstances, the hosts are expected to make the most of this opportunity of advancing to the next round. Arsenal is blocking their way and the Gunners are in pretty good form, but have shown signs of weakness.
Southampton Strides in Cup Fixtures
Their recent victory against Liverpool in the first leg of the League Cup has reignited hope for a trophy in 2017. Now they are trying to advance to the next stage in the FA Cup, where a single match is played and they have home pitch advantage. Southampton can consider itself partially lucky, because in exchange of playing at home, they will be facing the toughest opponent possible.
Arsenal has won plenty of games recently and sits in the second place, which makes them a hard nut to crack. The home side has the advantage of not losing against the Gunners in the last 14 years at St. Mary’s Stadium. It’s an impressive performance and one that they will try to extend, by playing smart defensive football. They managed to keep clean sheets in the last three home games, so this is doable.
Lucky Arsenal Keeps Winning Games
The Gunners have a formidable team, but recently they relied heavily on luck to pick up points both at home and on the road. Giroud scored the winning goal against Preston in the last minutes of regulation time. Over the weekend, they needed a penalty in the eighth minute of overtime to defeat Burnley at Emirates Stadium. Sooner or later, their luck will run out and Southampton could take advantage. The same goes for punters who bet at bet365 sports and choose the double chance bets at odds of 7/10.
