Southampton v Arsenal Betting Tips: Lack of goals on the cards at St Mary’s

Only Arsenal have something left to play for here as they are still looking to get into the top four. However, with a six point gap between themselves and the Champions League spots, even that looks unlikely now. Southampton are currently stuck in 10th and are just waiting for the season to finish.

The Saints did manage to earn a credible 0-0 draw at Liverpool at the weekend which now means they have now gone undefeated in their last two. However, it also means their win-less run is extended to four matches. Manager Claude Puel has dismissed talk of pressure on his job but his future does still look uncertain at this moment.

One credit that you can give to Southampton this season despite their relatively poor campaign is their defence. Their clean sheet against Liverpool means they have now gone two matches without conceding and their clean sheet total of 13 is the fourth-best in the top flight. However, they have been pretty woeful going forward and have scored in just one of their last four matches whilst their Goals For total of 39 is also pretty woeful.

The Saints have been poor at home in not only in recent times with just one win and three losses in their last six matches, but also over the course of the campaign with a rather pathetic 23 points taken from 16 matches. Having said that, this can once again be put down to their poor attack as Southampton’s home clean sheet ratio of 44% is one of the best in the division.

Arsenal managed to record a 2-0 victory over Manchester United on Sunday. However, the club was summed up by United manager Jose Mourinho post-match when he mocked the Arsenal fans for cheering and waving scarves madly after what is in reality a rather insignificant result.

We all know that the Gunners’ strength is in the final third and their record of 66 scored in 34 is very impressive. However, it must also be noted that they have been quite resilient at the back recently with two clean sheets in their last three.

Arsene Wenger’s side have had a complete nightmare on their travels recently with five losses in their last six, conceding in all six of those matches. Having said that, one positive for Arsenal away from the Emirates Stadium is their attack which has seen them find the back of the net in 82% of their games on the road.

Although Arsenal are good going forward, Southampton have generally been solid at the back on home soil this season. The fact that Arsenal played as recently as Sunday could have a huge bearing on this match and so their attack will not be at 100%. In addition, Southampton will likely get men behind the ball and look to frustrate, much as they did against Liverpool at the weekend. With this in mind, I doubt we will see many goals and so ‘Under 2.5 Goals’ at 23/18 is worth a bet.

More tips can be found here.