🏏 Sat, 4 Apr 2026 20:00 BST
Southampton
vs
Arsenal FC
Positions estimated vs 4-2-3-1 ※ estimated
Substitutes
Substitutes
Match Preview
- An FA Cup quarter-final in which Premier League leaders Arsenal (70 points from 31 matches) travel to face Championship (second-tier) side Southampton. Having beaten Doncaster, Leicester and Fulham to reach this stage, Southampton look to pull off a giant-killing against title-chasing Arsenal.
- Arsenal line up in a 4-2-3-1 with the double pivot of Odegaard and Norgaard and Havertz in the hole. However, with Saliba and Zubimendi starting on the bench and Kepa in goal, manager Arteta has rotated for the cup, so the cohesion of the starting line-up is key.
- Southampton set up in a 4-2-3-1 with Finn Azaz in the hole. West Brom academy graduate Fellows takes the right flank and young Scienza the left. How they shut down Arsenal's attack with the organisation honed in the second tier is the question.
- Arsenal's Kepa Arrizabalaga is Chelsea's former first-choice goalkeeper, with rich Premier League experience. Southampton's veteran midfielder Oriol Romeu is also a former Chelsea player. The subplots unique to the cup intersect.
- Max Dowman, the prodigy who made his Premier League debut for Arsenal at 15, starts as a right-sided midfielder. Watch whether the next-generation star candidate, who holds the record for the second-youngest appearance in league history, can shine on the cup stage.
- Southampton's Ross Stewart is a big striker nicknamed the 'Loch Ness Drogba'. With aerial strength and powerful shooting as his weapons, he takes on Arsenal's centre-back pairing of Gabriel and Mosquera head-on.
- Southampton's Kuryu Matsuki is left out of the squad, but he is a notable figure as the team's Japanese player. Meanwhile, Arsenal's bench holds a lavish cast of Gyokeres, Madueke and Calafiori, so the gap in the quality of substitutes is likely to tell in the closing stages.
- Arsenal's Gabriel Jesus won the FA Cup during his time at Manchester City. Can he show his big-game temperament in the cup and carve out a path to a double alongside the Premier League title?