Arsenal‘s first assignment after the international break will be to head to the south coast of England when they take on Southampton in their FA Cup quarterfinal on Saturday. Mikel Arteta’s side will be hoping to put behind the disappointment of losing out on the Carabao Cup trophy to Manchester City, while Tonda Eckert will be aiming to pull off an upset by keeping his side’s unbeaten run going.
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Southampton currently occupy the final playoff spot in the Championship, largely thanks to a 14-match unbeaten run going back to January. They beat Leicester and Fulham in that run to book their FA Cup quarterfinal spot, a scenario that seemed a world away when the club sacked Will Still back in November.
Arsenal, meanwhile, have yet to face top-flight opposition in the FA Cup this season, strolling past Portsmouth and Wigan before a nervy win over Mansfield Town. Arteta’s side have reached the quarterfinals for the first time since they won this competition in 2019-20, but with a lengthy injury list, their focus might lie elsewhere.
Here’s everything you need to know about the FA Cup quarterfinal.
How to watch:
The match will be shown on TNT Sports in the UK, ESPN in the U.S., SonyLIV in India and Stan Sport in Australia. You can also follow ESPN’s live updates.
Key Details:
Kick-off time: Saturday, April 4 at 8 p.m. GMT (3 p.m. ET; 12:30 a.m. IST, Sunday and 5 a.m. AEST, Sunday).
Venue: St. Mary’s Stadium, Southampton
Referee: Sam Barrott
Injury and Team News:
Southampton:
Jack Stephens, D: DOUBT
Léo Scienza, M: DOUBT
Welington, D: DOUBT
Jay Robinson, F: DOUBT
Mads Roerslev, D: OUT, knee
Flynn Downes, M: OUT, suspended
Kuryu Matsuki. M: OUT, suspended
Arsenal:
Declan Rice, M: DOUBT
Bukayo Saka, F: DOUBT
Martín Zubimendi, M: DOUBT
Piero Hincapié, D: DOUBT
Noni Madueke, F: DOUBT
Leandro Trossard, F: DOUBT
Gabriel Magalhães, D: DOUBT
William Saliba, D: DOUBT
Jurriën Timber, D: DOUBT
Martin Ødegaard, M: DOUBT
Eberechi Eze, M: OUT, calf
Mikel Merino, M: OUT, foot
Talking Points:Will Arsenal put Carabao Cup final loss behind them?play
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Burley brands Arsenal an ‘absolute disgrace’ for Carabao Cup performance
Craig Burley slams Arsenal for their approach to the Carabao Cup final after a 2-0 defeat to Manchester City.
The Carabao Cup defeat was perhaps the worst way to head into the international break for Arsenal, with players left to stew in negative emotions. The drama of FIFA World Cup qualification playoffs however, may have erased those memories, with the likes of Viktor Gyökeres guiding Sweden to the 48-team extravaganza in the summer, while Riccardo Calafiori (Italy) and Christian Nørgaard (Denmark) missed out in heartbreaking fashion.
Ben White made a controversial return for England, scoring his first international goal while also getting booed by his own supporters, while Cristhian Mosquera made his first start for Spain, with David Raya also in goal. Gabriel Martinelli and Kai Havertz found the net for their nations, while Myles Lewis-Skelly, Marli Salmon and Max Dowman shone for England’s youth teams. The upshot is that international football allowed Arsenal’s squad to clear their heads and move on from the cup final loss to City, with Arteta’s side now able to refocus for the run-in.
The downside is that Arteta might be dealing with a squad fatigued from travel, and an FA Cup quarterfinal is hardly the ideal game for a potentially leggy performance.
Injuries reign supreme
Taken at face value, Arsenal have their entire first team out (and more), with an injury list 12 players long. However, most of these players were nursing minor niggles and were sent back from international duty with their countries not willing to risk long-term damage with the FIFA World Cup on the horizon.
As such, there are hopes that most of Arsenal’s players will be able to recover in time for the FA Cup clash. Yet, with a crucial UEFA Champions League quarterfinal against Sporting CP up next, it remains to be seen how willing Arteta is to risk his players’ well-being. Eberechi Eze is set to miss most of April, although he might be targeting a return in Arsenal’s season-defining league fixture against City on April 19.
Eberechi Eze missed the Carabao Cup final through injury. Photo by David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images.
Arsenal were already a team running on fumes, and with a legitimate shot at the Premier League and Champions League titles, perhaps an FA Cup exit with a heavily-rotated side would not be the end of the world. Despite Arsenal’s injuries, they can still name a team that ought to be strong enough to defeat Southampton given the strength of their squad, with Kepa Arrizabalaga, Mosquera, White, Calafiori, Lewis-Skelly, Nørgaard, Gabriel Jesus, Martinelli, Havertz, Gyökeres and the likes of Marli Salmon and Max Dowman likely to be in contention to start.
Will FA Cup distract from Southampton’s promotion push?
Southampton meanwhile, come into this game in superb form, having won six of their last seven games — a run that has seen them climb to sixth in the Championship table. Ordinarily the club’s attention would be wholly focused around the visit of the Premier League leaders, but with a promotion six-pointer against Wrexham to follow, Tonda Eckert might be tempted to rotate.
That option might be enforced anyway with captain Jack Stephens hobbling off in training, while defensive stalwart Léo Scienza was also absent — two potentially huge misses for the game. As such, expectations of an upset might be lowered, with the pressure mostly on Arsenal.
However, Eckert is not considering this game a freebie by any means, with the Southampton boss noting that he considers the pressure to win a must going into any football game.
Arsenal’s record at St. Mary’s can offer Southampton hopeDavid Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images
Mikel Arteta’s side may have won the game in their last visit to St. Mary’s (courtesy a late Ødegaard winner), but aside from that Arsenal have lost twice in their last four visits to the ground, including the last time these two teams met in the FA Cup.
The roughly 30,000 Saints fans that will greet Arsenal are sure to make things awkward for the visitors, who haven’t looked at their fluent best away to lower league opposition this season. Mansfield Town caused the Arsenal backline plenty of problems in the fifth round, and they were bailed out by Eze’s brilliant winner.
Eckert’s penchant for surprise lineups could mean the Premier League leaders might be caught out, and Arteta will be all-too aware that an FA Cup exit could see his squad’s morale dip.
What do the numbers say?
Arsenal are the most successful club in FA Cup history, winning the competition 14 times. Southampton have won it once (1976) and were runners-up thrice, losing their most recent final (2003) to… Arsenal
Arsenal have scored 22 goals from set-pieces in the Premier League this season (36%) the same as Southampton (22 set-piece goals) in the Championship (35%).
Overall, Arsenal have scored 114 goals from 50 games (2.28 gpg) while Southampton have scored 74 goals from 45 games (1.64 gpg).
Arsenal have only won two of their last five games against Southampton – although both were the last time the two teams met in the 2024/25 PL season.