Ronald Koeman: This player is Arsenal’s trump card in the title race

Incredibly for Arsenal, Alexis Sanchez may start his first game since November while Francis Coquelin could make an appearance from the bench.

Wenger must decide how many changes to make to his line-up after making nine alterations against Burnley. Arsenal though should see the return of Per Mertesacker, who served his one match ban in the win over Burnley during the FA Cup.

Whether Wenger wants to add goals, defensive security or just depth to his squad, he needs to be active in the remainder of this season if he hopes to compete on all three fronts for the rest of this campaign. “Mistakes are part of that competition, but we learn from defeat”.

However, those worries seem to have dissolved for real this time thanks to a sequence of three wins without conceding against Watford, West Brom and Manchester United, which have suddenly shot them up to eighth place.

“I think it would give us confidence going forward and we can take it from there”. He scored his only goal in the Community Shield against Chelsea in August, which Arsenal won 1-0.

When Southampton last faced the Gunners over Christmas, their 4-0 triumph was rendered all the more extraordinary by their dismal form before and afterwards, with it their sole success in a rotten run of eight losses in ten fixtures. They are tied for points with Stoke City. They have Ozil. They have so many possibilities and players with really high quality.

Leicester have confounded expectations to move to the top spot, losing only twice in the league all season.

The Egyptian has yet to feature in the Premier League and Wenger told Arsenal’s official website: “I think he has to adapt to the power side of the game”.

Arsenal will have revenge on their minds as they seek to get their Premier League title challenge back on track against Southampton at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday.