One of the games prevented Arsenal from finishing in the top four.
In the middle of April, the Gunners traveled to Southampton, where Ralph Hasenhuttl's Saints were winless in five games and fresh off a 6-0 home loss to Chelsea. Even though Arsenal had dropped their previous two games, this seemed like the ideal matchup to restart their top-four hopes.
With Kieran Tierney, Thomas Partey, Takehiro Tomiyasu, and Alexandre Lacazette all suffering injuries, Mikel Arteta was obliged to lead a diminished Gunners team to St Mary's. Despite dominating, Arsenal fell short due to a lack of quality and sharpness.
Arsenal suffered a 1-0 loss, giving the top-four competition even more momentum but also losing the game. Southampton only gained one further point in the final six games of the season, and the Gunners finished the year in fifth place.
On Super Sunday this weekend, Arsenal will visit Southampton in a different situation and with a lot of energy. The Gunners are four points ahead of the defending champions Manchester City at the top of the table thanks to an incredible start to the season—their best in the Premier League.
The question on everyone's mind is "can they maintain their good start and become City's main challengers?" Arteta's Arsenal has emerged as a prospective title contender. Once more, the issue of squad depth has influenced the response to that question to be "no."
Last weekend, Sky Sports analyst Micah Richards observed, "The difference between Manchester City and Arsenal is that City can lose a few players and play precisely the same style and can afford to rotate."
"If Arsenal loses a Thomas Party, Oleksandr Zinchenko, or Gabriel Jesus, they suddenly become a different team."
After all, Arsenal's finish to the previous season was disrupted by this lack of squad depth. After Party and Tierney left in the spring, Arteta had to weigh his backup choices.
The inability to choose between Granit Xhaka, Cedric Soares, or Nuno Tavares to replace Tierney resulted in inconsistent and unstable play by Arteta. Along with using Albert Sambi Lokonga as Partey's backup, the Arsenal manager eventually substituted Mohamed Elneny for him due to bad play.
Arsenal lost three games in a row in the first three matches following the injuries to Party and Tierney, with Southampton away being one of them.
Because he didn't have enough reserves to cover his first-team regulars, Arteta paid the price. But do the same depth difficulties still exist as they compete for the title despite making very few adjustments to his normal Arsenal lineup this season?
Right-wing and center midfield are of greatest concern.
With their place in the Europa League secured, Arsenal had no choice but to bolster their roster after missing out on playing in Europe the previous season, especially given the Gunners' propensity for injury woes.
Additionally, the north Londoners are still lacking in two places, as suggested by Arsenal's summer business.
Midfielder Douglas Luiz's transfer on Transfer Deadline Day fell through, however, there was reportedly late interest in Wolves winger Pedro Neto. Arsenal's central midfield, notably the role of Party, and right-wing now appear to be weak spots after failing to hit the two goals.
Party has only appeared in 63% of Arsenal's Premier League games since joining Atletico Madrid in October 2020, so it is prudent to prepare for a possible absence. He is also not consistently trustworthy enough to be taken for granted as a week-to-week option.
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