Arsenal vs Southampton: The Gunners celebrate a triumphant victory.

(Baonghean.vn) - After a somewhat shaky start, Arsenal finally secured their first victory against newly promoted Watford. The three points earned give Wenger's team the confidence to return home to face a more evenly matched Southampton. This is an opportunity for The Gunners to secure another three points and get back into the title race.

For over a decade, since their championship win in the 2003-2004 season, Arsenal have been unable to once again lift the coveted "crown" of England's most exciting league. Throughout this period, Arsenal have watched with disappointment as their traditional rivals Manchester United and two emerging forces, Chelsea and Manchester City, successively surpassed them to claim the victory. Despite these consecutive failures, The Gunners continue to place their faith in manager Arsene Wenger.

Arsenal are back in form after their victory against Watford in the previous round.

To prepare for the title race this season, the Emirates Stadium team was cautious in the transfer market, only bringing in average players such as midfielder Granit Xhaka, striker Takuma Asano, and defender Rob Holding. It wasn't until the summer transfer window was about to close that the Gunners strengthened their squad with two notable signings: center-back Shkodran Mustafi and striker Lucas Perez.

With such personnel additions, Arsenal has been put at a disadvantage compared to the other "Big Four" rivals, namely the two Manchester clubs and Chelsea. These teams have brought in top managers and quality signings with the ambition of bringing success to their respective clubs.

In their opening match, Arsene Wenger's team suffered a major setback when they were defeated 3-4 by Liverpool at their home ground. It was considered a complete failure for The Gunners, with all three lines underperforming, especially the defense, which was so lax that it allowed Liverpool's strikers to easily score against goalkeeper Petr Cech.

Furthermore, in their away match against reigning champions Leicester City, despite creating numerous chances, the Gunners' lack of finishing prevented them from breaking through the opponent's defense. Following that match, many fans of the Emirates Stadium team called for the club's management to sack the French manager.

It wasn't until their third match against newly promoted Watford, thanks to the brilliance of midfielder Mesut Ozil, that Arsenal finally secured their first win of the new season, defeating the home team 1-3 with goals from Cazorla, Sanchez, and Mesut Ozil. This victory was considered very important, helping Wenger's team relieve the pressure after a disappointing start to the season.

Conversely, Southampton, after a successful 2015-2016 season in which they secured a place in the Europa League group stage, faced setbacks. During the summer transfer window, Southampton parted ways with two key players, Pelle and Mane. Even more unfortunately, the St Mary's Stadium club couldn't retain manager Ronald Koeman, who moved to Everton.

Arsenal have a chance to secure their first home win as they host Southampton.

Currently, the visiting team is led by new manager Claude Puel. However, his efforts have yet to show promising results. In the last three rounds, they only managed to secure 2 points from draws against Watford and Sunderland at home, both with a 1-1 scoreline. While Southampton's poor home performance against evenly matched teams is unacceptable, their away form is not much better. Proof of this is their easy defeat against title contender Manchester United in round 2, with two goals from superstar striker Ibrahimovic. This partly reflects Southampton's weakness after a turbulent summer.

During the away match at the Emirates Stadium, coach Claude Puel was also without two key attacking players, Jeremy Pied and Sofiane Boufal, which prevented him from deploying his preferred 4-2-3-1 formation as he had in the pre-season friendlies.

Facing an opponent struggling with form and lacking the momentum from their opening win in the previous round, The Gunners have a great opportunity to secure their first home win of the new season as a gift to their Arsenal fans.

Cao Anh