The quarter-finals of the FA Cup have arrived, and one of the four matchups will take place at St Mary’s Stadium as Southampton hosts Arsenal.
Arsenal are -360 favorites on the moneyline for this one on DraftKings Sportsbook, with a draw available at +475. Fancy a Southampton upset? The Championship side are +850 to win inside the 90 minutes.
In terms of odds to advance, Arsenal are listed at -1100 while the Saints are available at +550.
Southampton vs. Arsenal Prediction, Pick
This bet can be found under the “Match Parlays” tab. The Gunners will face lower league opposition for the fourth consecutive game in this FA Cup campaign.
In the third round, they took down Championship side Portsmouth 4-1. In the fourth round, it was a comfortable 4-0 win against League One side Wigan. In the fifth round, Arsenal faced their biggest challenge yet, although against the weakest opposition. They beat League Two side Mansfield Town by only a score of 2-1 to advance to the quarter-finals.
In terms of league position, Southampton will be the strongest team they’ve met so far. The Saints were relegated from the Premier League last season and sit in sixth place in the Championship. A play-off appearance and promotion back to the Premier League is very much a possibility. Southampton have been in great form over recent weeks, and haven’t lost in any competition since January 17th. They’ve already taken down one Premier League team in their FA Cup run so far, beating Fulham 1-0 on the road in the fifth round.
Despite all of that going their way and the fact that they have home-field advantage, I’m still taking Arsenal.
The Gunners were disappointing last time out in the League Cup final, losing 2-0 to Man City and barely laying a glove on their league rivals. The international break probably came at the perfect time for the Gunners, who will be motivated to get things back on track in this one.
With games coming thick and fast for them in the Premier League and Champions League over the next few weeks, I do expect the Gunners to rotate in this game, as they have done throughout the FA Cup so far. Even so, they have one of the deepest squads in the league and have gotten this far using all of it. I expect a similar lineup on Saturday, and I think even Arsenal’s “B” team can beat an in-form Southampton team at their place.
Over 2.5 goals shouldn’t be an issue, as at least three goals have been scored in all three of their FA Cup wins up until this point.
I’m expecting a close game, but Arsenal still have arguably the best squad in the world right now.
