Arsenal haven’t lost a game this month and are hoping to end December with straight wins. It has been a good year-end for the Gunners who not only defeated Olympiacos in their decisive match for the Champions League knockout stages but also put City 4 points behind after a great 2-1 win at home. Hopefully by the end of 2015 they will close the gap on Leicester as well who are just 2 points in front. Odds are in the Londoners’ favor as Leicester face Liverpool and City in their last two games of the year. Wenger’s side on the other hand will visit St. Mary’s Stadium in hope that Boxing Day will bring them first place.

In terms of lot Arsenal will probably go in with the same formation that dominated Manchester City for a solid 65-70 minutes. It will be a bit tricky to handle the next week as the Gunners will have to face Bournemouth as well in under 48 hours. While Southampton look like an easy target as they lost 5 of their last 6 games, Bournemouth are on an ascending trend, beating Chelsea, United and West Brom in their last three games. They do have to face Crystal Palace today and with a not so generous lot they are bound to be tired against the Gunners.

With that in mind, Wenger needs to figure out if he can risk sending a somewhat improvised team against Southampton and focus on Bournemouth. Out of the players who were expected to be seen on the pitch this late into December, Alexis Sanchez is the only one who suffered a setback. He will be out until January which might be good for both him and the team as the last few games of 2015 do not seem so difficult to manage. Here is how the team is expected to look against Southampton:

Petr Cech (GK) – Nacho Monreal (LB); Koscielny (CB); Mertesacker (CB); Bellerin (RB) – Flamini (DM); Ramsey (CM); Ozil (CAM); Campbell (RW); Walcott (LW/SS) – Giroud (ST)