🕟 Kick Off: 20:00 BST

🏟️ Venue: St Mary’s Stadium

📺 UK Broadcaster: TNT Sports

🙎🏻‍♂️ Referee: Samuel Barrott

📹 VAR: James Bell

🔴 Arsenal Team News*:

• Eberechi Eze (Calf): Ruled out. Sustained the injury against Leverkusen. Arteta said he cannot put a finger on a return date because Eze is a ‘special character’
• Noni Madueke (Knee): Major doubt. Picked up a knock while away with England. Arteta said it is a matter of days for his return.
• Mikel Merino (Foot): Ruled out long-term as he continues recovery from surgery.
• Martin Ødegaard (Knee) & Jurrien Timber (Ankle): Arteta confirmed they are both in contention to make the squad.
• Hincapie: Ruled out. Arteta confirmed this in the press conference.
• Saka, Rice, & Zubimendi: All are doubts/Likely to be rested. After withdrawing from international duty with “niggles,”.
• Saliba, & Gabriel: Carrying potential knocks.

*Pinch of salt for a lot of these injuries.

⚽ Arsenal Form: 🟥🟩🟩🟧🟩

🌹 Southampton Team News:

• Jack Stephens (Late Fitness Test): The captain is the biggest concern. He suffered an ankle knock in a collision during Monday’s open training session. The swelling has subsided, but a final decision won’t be made until Saturday morning.
• Mads Roerslev (Out): He remains the only long-term absentee currently in a protective boot. Eckert expects him to begin light rehabilitation in about a week, but he is unavailable for the Arsenal tie.
• Wellington “Welly” (Doubtful): He only rejoined team training on Thursday. While he is technically “back,” Eckert hinted that the Arsenal game may come too soon for a start, likely aiming for a bench spot at best.

⚽ Southampton Form: 🟩🟩🟩🟧🟩

⚔️ Head-to-Head:

• Southampton 1–2 Arsenal (May 2025, Premier League)
• Arsenal 3–1 Southampton (October 2024, Premier League)
• Arsenal 3–3 Southampton (April 2023, Premier League)
• Southampton 1–1 Arsenal (October 2022, Premier League)
• Southampton 1–0 Arsenal (April 2022, Premier League)

📖 Match Facts:

• The Saints haven’t lost a game since January 17th against Hull. They are unbeaten in 14 games in all competitions.
• Arsenal haven’t progressed past the quarter finals since the 19/20 season, where they would go on to win the competition.
• Southampton have been wearing a commemorative yellow and blue kit in the FA Cup this season to celebrate 50 years since they won the competition, beating Man United in the final. This was their last and only time winning the competition, and to this day is the greatest achievement of the club.

📸 Previously in this fixture…

Arsenal last played Southampton in the FA Cup in the 2020/21 season in the Fourth Round. We went to St’ Mary’s and lost 1-0, crushing our hopes of retaining the trophy after our triumph the previous year. The only goal came from our own Gabriel who deflected a shot past Leno to send us out of the competition.

✍🏼 Pre-Match Ramblings

And just like that, Arsenal are back after a 2 week break following their lifeless loss to Man City in the League Cup final. That loss has gone widely forgotten in the media over the past fortnight, with the discussion around Arsenal switching to the amount of players pulling out of international duty with niggles. Apparently this is a huge issue now that Arsenal are doing it.

Anyway, Southampton come into this game in hot form, unbeaten in 14 games and right up there for a place in the play offs, currently in 6th place in the Championship. One has to wonder where their priorities lie given the importance of being able to fully focus on their bid to return to the top flight. The same can be said for Arsenal who will return to European and league action next week.

If a good amount of the injuries listed above are real worries, then I wouldn’t be surprised to see a heavily rotated team face Southampton. I expect to see appearances from the likes of Kepa, Mosquera, MLS (who had a great showing for the England u21s with Nwaneri), Dowman, Norgaard, and perhaps Gabriel Jesus.

With just three days seperating this fixture and a much more important quarter final first leg against Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League, it’s hard not to be thinking ahead instead of looking at what’s in front of us. For me, the FA Cup is a case of ‘been there, done that’ considering we have won it more times than any other club. Of course it is an important competition, but we certainly have bigger fish to fry, and those fish are very close on the horizon.