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“I just took a trip down to memory lane to check The Joy of Six part about 26 May 1989,” says Admir Pajic. “Perhaps it’s a sign that our title decider at Etihad is scheduled for 26th. Or that we have a player wearing ‘Thomas’ on his back.
Perhaps Arteta will go with an extra centre-back on that night. We will need a goal, Partey will charge through the midfield and the commentator who fails to scream ‘Thomas...it’s up for grabs now’ should never get another game.
“My worry is, my son celebrates his 2nd birthday on 26 April. If we lose, should I move his birthday in forthcoming years to either 25th or 27th?”
Is that how birthdays work now? I knew I was out of touch with the modern world, but I thought I was still up to speed on birthdays.
Here come the players, to a predictably loving reception from the home fans. It’s been a life-affirming eight months for Emirates regulars. But unless Arsenal see through, they might not want to touch the memories.
The managers’ pre-match thoughts
“Perhaps my glass is half-full,” begins Andrew Hurley, “but isn’t a seven-point lead a potentially very positive thing, City not being invincible, and am I the only one who thinks Arsenal should have to get something next week to prove they are the better team and deserve to be champions?
“I think they will, probably a draw, and to come into the match with everyone saying City have already won the league/Arsenal have bottled it (delete as appropriate) probably suits them very well. But, Saliba...”
The one good thing about the West Ham result is that it takes away any subconscious thought that you can afford to lose at City. Now you know you have to get at least a draw, which could actually be liberating. But, Saliba…
Ten minutes to kick off
Which is as good a time as any to remind you of the teams.
Arsenal (4-1-2-3) Ramsdale; White, Holding, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Partey; Odegaard, Vieira; Saka, Jesus, Martinelli.
Substitutes: Turner, Tierney, Kiwior, Walters, Smith Rowe, Jorginho, Nketiah, Trossard, Nelson.
Southampton (4-2-3-1) Bazunu; Walker-Peters, Bednarek, Bella-Kotchap, Perraud; Ward-Prowse, Lavia; Walcott, Alcaraz, Elyounoussi; A Armstrong.
Substitutes: McCarthy, Aribo, Lyanco, Caleta-Car, S Armstrong, Sulemana, Diallo, Orsic, Onuachu.
Referee Simon Hooper.
“This Premier League season has been a heck of a ride,” says Aditi Modi. “I’ll be sorry when it ends, no matter HOW it ends. And this matchup has a peculiar feel to it, not just for the title race, but also for the fight to avoid relegation, which has been more fascinating than the two-horse title race. I’m stress-eating frozen pizza for this one!”
“Very stressed about this one,” says Rachel Clifton, and she’s not talking as an Arsenal fan. “At least it’s a gorgeous spring day in nyc (that I am missing to sit inside the pub to watch the football obvs).”
“Rob, I assume that you have an army of sulky interns who do your bidding, as you sit back in your easy chair and watch the game while sipping something enjoyable?” says Charles Antaki. “If so, you might get them to look out one of those ‘Game Over!’ gifs from old video games to play when Arsenal go 3-2 down after being 2-0 up. Just to beat the rush, I’m getting my fatalism in now.”
Just for you, Charles, my army of sulky interns have I’ve popped into the future and brought back some footage of Theo Walcott’s winning goal tonight.
“You’ve made a Rams fan happy by mentioning that 2-1 win over Arsenal just before they were champions in 1989,” says David Hopkins. “As a footnote, Derby actually did the double over the Gunners that season. I was behind the goal when Phil Gee won it with a proper screamer.”
That Phil Gee goal is a belter. It’s on my (very) longlist of goals to do if I ever sort out a sports history website.
Give your ribs a pre-match tickle by reading the latest from David Squires
Injury latest
This is a huge blow for Arsenal, compounded by the injury to Takehiro Tomiyasu which means they can’t move Ben White across from right-back.
The state of play
Arsenal can go seven points clear tonight, which is slightly hard to reconcile with the mood after last weekend’s draw at West Ham. The precedent of 1988-89 should provide a bit of comfort for Arsenal fans: a young, vibrant side led the table for much of the season, before being slowly, inexorably, heartbreakingly reeled in by the serial champions.
And then came one of the greatest twists in football history, one that nobody on the planet saw coming. Nobody, that is, apart from George Graham.
Team news
Two changes for Arsenal from the West Ham game. Oleksandr Zinchenko returns at left-back in place of Kieran Tierney, and Fabio Vieira is in for the unwell Granit Xhaka.
Ruben Selles makes three changes to the Southampton team that lost at home to Crystal Palace last weekend. Romain Perraud, Mohamed Elyounoussi and Adam Armstrong are in for Ainsley Maitland-Niles, who is ineligible against his parent club, Kamaldeen Sulemana and Joe Aribo.
Arsenal (4-1-2-3) Ramsdale; White, Holding, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Partey; Odegaard, Vieira; Saka, Jesus, Martinelli.
Substitutes: Turner, Tierney, Kiwior, Walters, Smith Rowe, Jorginho, Nketiah, Trossard, Nelson.
Southampton (4-2-3-1) Bazunu; Walker-Peters, Bednarek, Bella-Kotchap, Perraud; Ward-Prowse, Lavia; Walcott, Alcaraz, Elyounoussi; A Armstrong.
Substitutes: McCarthy, Aribo, Lyanco, Caleta-Car, S Armstrong, Sulemana, Diallo, Orsic, Onuachu.
Referee Simon Hooper.
To lose one superstar with an ACL injury might be considered unfortunate. To lose three suggests football, never mind Arsenal, has some urgent research to do.
Look out!
Preamble
Hello and welcome to live coverage of Arsenal v Southampton at the Emirates. After a disastrous run of two games without a win, Arsenal hope this will be a nice tune-up fight ahead of the probable title decider in Manchester next Wednesday.
I’m loath to say this is a must-win game for Arsenal, because Derby and Wimbledon in May 1989 were supposed to be must-wins and look how that panned out, but it certainly feels that way. Arsenal need a restorative victory to change the mood ahead of what is probably the club’s biggest game in 17 years. If they fail to win tonight, the noise and/or fatalism could become unbearable.
Southampton should be an easy mark, though you can never be completely sure in this league of ours. They’ve taken points off three of the top five this season, including a 1-1 draw against Arsenal in the return game at St Mary’s. But they are four points from safety with time running out, and odds of 12/1 in a two-horse race tell a story. If Southampton are going to pull off a great escape, this would be the perfect time – and place – to get started.
Kick off 8pm.
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