Five Arsenal youngsters who deserve a chance vs. Southampton

Arsene Wenger said Arsenal looked incapable of scoring as they slumped to an EFL Cup quarter-final elimination at the hands of Southampton. The goal heralded a period of pressure from Bournemouth in which they had two good chances to take the lead; Adam Smith headed over and Brad Smith had a shot saved. The Spaniard has only recently returned to full training after an ankle injury, but Wenger may have to risk him after Olivier Giroud suffered a minor hamstring problem.

“There have been a lot of ups and downs but hopefully this game can make sure we are back to the level we want to be”.

Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe was frustrated that his team left empty-handed despite an enterprising display and he took a shot at Jones for failing to award his team a second penalty for a handball by Monreal. Southampton: Fraser Forster 6, Cuco Martina 6, Maya Yoshida 6, Virgil van Dijk 7, Ryan Bertrand 8, Harrison Reed 6, Jordy Clasie 7, Steven Davis 7, Sam McQueen 7, Sofiane Boufal 6, Shane Long 7.

Saints looked risky when they could break, although Shane Long was often too isolated to punish the numerous lapses in concentration that saw Arsenal yield possession.

Perez joined the Gunners in the summer, but has struggled to nail down a starting spot and has so far played in just three league matches for Arsene Wenger’s men. “He decided he felt well enough, but I could see after five, 10 minutes that he was not right”, Wenger said.

Goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez will likely be brought into the first-team, as will players like Rob Holding, Alex Iwobi, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jeff Reine-Adelaide, Mohamed Elneny, Gabriel Pauleta and perhaps Gedion Zelalem. Moreover, he’s also scored each of Arsenal’s last three EFL Cup goals. Of late things are looking good for the Gunners who have already made progress to the second round of the UEFA Champions League as well. When he gets the ball, he runs forward and he runs at any defender.

Tonight’s Arsenal team will be very hard to predict considering Wenger’s promised rotations, but I will have a good go….

“We had chances in the game, definitely.so I think the scoreline doesn’t really reflect how we played”.