Arsenal vs Southampton heralds interesting weekend in the PL — Preview

Premier League champions Manchester City will not be in action this weekend in the league as due to the FA Cup.

The Cityzens take on Sheffield United in the semifinal of the FA Cup alongside neighbours Manchester United who have it all to do in the second semis against Brighton and Hove Albion.

North Londoners, Arsenal and their manager Mikel Arteta will look to give themselves a breather by taking advantage of City’s absence in the league.

The Gunners are on a run of two matches without a win in the league and Arteta and his boys will hope to bounce back to winning ways when they take on the Saints on Friday.

They take on the Saints in a decisive encounter for the league leaders who dropped four points in their last two matches.

Arteta and his Gunners cannot afford to drop further points against the Saints who are currently rooted at the foot of the table and destined for relegation.

While the hosts have failed to win any of the last two, their visitors, who have Nigerian duo Paul Onuachu and Joe Aribo, have lost each of their previous three matches.

Arsenal will host the Saints later tonight at the Emirates are just four points ahead of Man City, who have a game in hand.

The Gtech Community Stadium in Middlesex will see Brentford have a huge task on their hands when they welcome the rejuvenated Aston Villa and their manager Unai Emery.

The home side have lost each of the last three matches and failed to win any of the last five across all competitions.

Frank Thomas and his Bees will look to end that poor run against the side coached by Emer, who is a fan favourite at Villa Park at the moment after turning the Villians from relegation candidates to contenders for Europe.

Villa have moved from 17th on the table under Steven Gerrard to sixth, six points behind Newcastle United, who sit fourth on the table.

Emery’s Villa will have their European credentials tested when they take on Brentford hoping to extend their winning run to six consecutive matches and unbeaten run to nine matches.

Elsewhere, Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool welcome Nottingham Forest to Anfield hoping to build on their impressive win over Leeds United on Monday.

The Reds inspired by Mohammed Salah thrashed Leeds 6-1 to end a run of five matches without a win.

Salah and Diogo Jota netted a brace each, while Trent Alexander-Arnold put on a show in midfield to lead the Kops to another big win.

With another struggling side in Forest to face this weekend, Klopp will be looking for more of the same as they look to for a late push to secure European football next season.