Southampton play Arsenal in the Capital One Cup on the back of a fine win at Swansea that has pushed the Saints into second in the league – so we can now feel confident of a win at the Emirates.
Usually an away trip to Arsenal is a game that I would put down as one where anything better than defeat would be a bonus. But there are a few good reasons to suggest that we should be a little more expectant this time around.
For one thing, we are flying under Ronald Koeman’s stewardship. The Dutchman has come in and continued to play the excellent style of football that we are used to. But so far this season we are a more ruthless side and the results are reflecting that. The emphatic 4-0 win over Newcastle and the manner of our late victory at Swansea would point to a side that has a winning mentality, and to a side that doesn’t let the opposition off the hook.
This certainly wasn’t the case under Mauricio Pochettino, where we often failed to turn our dominance of matches into points. It seems as if Tottenham fans are already experiencing this trait, as indicated by their slow start.
Another contrast to the Argentinian’s reign is the way in which we have treated this cup competition. Last season we didn’t take the cups too seriously, despite the safety of our league position and the chance of a trophy to go in the cabinet.
This is something that has definitely changed under Koeman. Even in our second-round tie at Millwall, only three changes were made from the side that played against West Brom the weekend before. This was a real statement of intent, and was reflected in a comfortable 2-0 win.
In contrast, it seems likely that Arsene Wenger will give a number of his fringe players a run-out against Saints. After winning the FA Cup last year, I don’t think that this competition will be that important to the Gunners as their trophy drought has ended.
It’s not like Wenger took the Capital One Cup that seriously anyway, even in the years when Arsenal were desperate for any silverware. So I’m hopeful that our strongest side will be good enough to take the game to Arsenal’s second-string.
That will still be a very difficult ask, with the likes of Tomas Rosicky and Lukas Podolski being top-class players and ex-Saint Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain an incredible talent.
But with the Arsenal players not having had a great deal of game time so far, I’m optimistic that we’ll be able to take advantage of this and progress to the fourth round.
It’s not going to be easy, but with Saints having had a brilliant start and Arsenal’s stars likely to be missing, I really do feel that this is as good an opportunity as we’ll ever get to win at the Emirates. If we can, then a run to Wembley could be in the offing…
Source: Metro UK
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