It’s match day tonight and, I’ll be completely honest with you not only am I worried that we might not deliver the kind of assured performance of a team that sits top of the league, but I’m also slightly concerned about our season longer term.

That’s because Arteta had his press conference yesterday and confirmed that Zinchenko is a doubt for tonight and that must also make him a doubt for next week too. And given that we are also missing Tomiyasu for the rest of the season, suddenly our back line looks like it’s creaking.

I think Tierney looked a little rusty against West Ham and whilst the drop down in quality between him and Zinchenko isn’t as marked in terms of how good they are, Tierney can’t do what Zinchenko can do, so to have the Ukrainian out at this crucial time of the season is a big blow and a bitter pill to swallow.

What is worse, however, is that it doesn’t sound like Saliba is anywhere close to fitness and even Arteta wasn’t too convincing in his answer when he was asked if he’ll play again this season. I tell you this for nothing; if Saliba is out for even the next two to three weeks, I think our shot at the title is gone. There’s too much of a drop off between him and Holding, who is a decent enough pro but when he’s in the team it puts more pressure on White and Gabriel to mask his deficiencies, which include bringing the ball out from the back, long ball distribution, etc.

It is a very real worry.

And that worry is kind of extending in to tonight for me, because on paper this is the sort of game in which this Arsenal team should be winning and winning comfortably. But the last couple of results have shaken me personally in terms of the confidence I have in us getting a result. Perhaps that is a good thing; all season I have been cautious and nervy ahead of every game, but just before the Liverpool match when we beat Palace and Leeds at home, my thoughts were starting to turn. I was going into games thinking – not necessarily saying on this blog, but certainly thinking – that “we should win this”. 

No more. I made that mistake of starting to think about how many goals we should get against West Ham after that first ten minutes, but my mind is now firmly on “let’s just win – by any way, please” mentality and that’s what I feel about tonight. Southampton might go in to this game bottom of the league, having the worst xG, having scored the fewest goals this season on 24, but last week we played a West Ham team who struggled for goals and usually only mustered one in games and we gifted them two silly goals. So there can – and should – be no complacency tonight from this Arsenal side. From a statistical point of view Southampton are also interesting; they rank sixth best in terms of shots on target against them, but they have a save % ratio which is the worst in the leaguye. They may not allow many shots, but when they do, it usually results in goals. They are third in the league for long passes launched and attempted and that to me is where the concern comes in, because that’s just what West Ham did up against Holding and I think Southampton will look to do the same against the Englishman. Which means we need to find a solution for when they inevitably try to target the weaker of our two centre halves. They’ll probably play Carlos Alcaraz up top and if my memory serves me right, he’s got a bit of pace about him, which will certainly cause Big Bob an issue if he isn’t ready for it. 

But we have to be ready for what Southampton throw at us and it is on us to impose our game at home and try to go for the win. We are top of the league, we have to show the fight and if you cannot beat the teams down there towards the bottom of the league then you don’t deserve to be champions. Any other than a win tonight and the title is well and truly finished I feel, because City will invariably beat us and we’ll be in the doldrums unless we pick up three points. The hope is that we start fast and play well from kick off, because that will dispel any initial concerns and worries in the crowd. I think we’ll all be a bit jittery tonight so another fast start would do the trick nicely. 

In terms of our team news I suspect it’ll be similar to the side that played last week. There could be a case for starting Trossard but I think Arteta will tell those same players to make amends for the poor showing at the London Stadium. That have to if they want to win the Premier League.

I’m going to leave it there for today I think. I hope I’m happy and smiling come 10pm and I hope you are too, friend. 

Fingers crossed.

Catch you all tomorrow for a debrief.