Arsenal have perfect opportunity to reset with Southampton visit

Mikel Arteta's Gunners have been ever-present at the summit, remaining in the top two since the second game of term and giving the juggernaut of Manchester City something to seriously think about.

Aside from a three-game winless run in February, the table-toppers have stayed consistent for long stretches which has been a key reason as to why they are in strong contention to win their first title since 2003.

Arsenal recovered from that mini drought impressively, putting together a nine-game unbeaten run - which included a winning streak of seven games - to restore some confidence at the Emirates Stadium.

But the latter two games - both of which were 2-2 draws against Liverpool and West Ham respectively - have come as an untimely blip as the season begins to wind down.

Arsenal threw away back-to-back two-goal leads en route to dropping four points and City's big uptick in form has narrowed the gap to just four points, with the latter having one game in hand.

And with a home match against rock-bottom Southampton coming up next, the fixture could be coming at an good time for Arteta's young side.

The visiting Saints have endured a woeful campaign and head to north London with just one win in seven games, which came in early March against fellow relegation-battlers Leicester.

Ruben Selles will likley be hoping key man James Ward-Prowse (28) will be able to inspire in their scrap for points and while they held Arsenal to a draw in October's reverse fixture, Friday night may be a step too far despite the hosts' recent wobbles.

Arsenal will view the game as a prime opportunity to get back in the win column and generate a seven-point gap between themselves and idle City, who are in FA Cup semi-final action instead this weekend.

Bukayo Saka (21), who has been excellent for a large portion of the season, will be keen to put Sunday's crucial penalty miss at West Ham behind him against one of the league's leakier sides.

It also serves as a boost that Southampton have never won in the 23 Premier League games they have played at the Emirates, with their only returns coming as seven draws.

However, Arsenal will still be cautious about the threat Southampton pose especially from the set-pieces of Ward-Prowse and given they have occasionally had issues against the south coast outfit, albeit mostly away from home.

And while next Wednesday's cruch title clash at City edges closer, Arsenal will see three points against the lowly Saints as imperative as they look to rebound.