Paul Merson has claimed that Gabriel Jesus should not leave Manchester City for Arsenal, claiming that ‘Pep Guardiola trusts him’.

The Gunners are expected to add at least one new forward to their attack this summer, with Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah into the final months of their current contracts.

While our interest in City’s Jesus was seemingly confirmed last weekend, Paul Merson doesn’t believe he should make the move to the Emirates, and should stay with his current side.

‘Gabriel Jesus should stay at Manchester City. There’s speculation about his future and people think he’s unhappy he doesn’t play enough – but he’s started 17 Premier League games this season,’ Merson wrote for his column in the Daily Star.

‘I think that’s a lot. He’s played 36 times for City this season. And started a lot of big, big games. Where is he going to go where he can do any better than that?

Arsenal are claimed to have enquired with Bologna about the availability of Aaron Hickey, which could mean an end to Nuno Tavares’s role as Kieran Tierney’s backup.

The Portuguese has proved to be a raw talent this term, and while he has impressed on occasions, he has proved costly in others.

His name on the teamsheet does worry me unfortunately, and reports by ViolaNews who cite Radio Kiss that we are interested in a deal to sign Aaron Hickey is one that I hope comes through. The 19 year-old made the brave move to leave Scotland for Italy shortly after his 18th birthday, and while his debut season may not have been as fruitful as he would have liked, he has really found form this term.

While I would love to see him come in as backup to Tierney, I feel like he would turn down a move to any club that couldn’t guarantee him regular playing time. He supposedly snubbed Bayern Munich for Bologna due to guarantees on his playing time, and it would seem like a backwards move in that context knowing that his fellow Scotsman will take some budging from his role as first choice.

Does our efforts to sign Hickey mean that Tavares will be moved on in the summer? Do you think Hickey could challenge Tierney for his role at LB next term?

If Burnley win at Watford on Saturday it means Everton have to face Chelsea on Sunday 5 points from safety.

Suddenly the idea of the Toffees getting relegated, so often deemed ‘too good to go down’, becomes very real.

One of 6 clubs never to drop out of the Premiership, the Evertonians have been in the topflight since 1954, second only to Arsenal in the longest sequence of being In the English top division.

If Frank Lampard can’t sort things out, you can argue Everton would be the biggest name to finish in the bottom three in the Premier League era.

Before that time, even the likes of Man United and Liverpool found themselves in the second tier.

Some midweek continental capers were rounded off with the Europa & Conference Leagues last night, with British sides struggling across the board. At least we saw the opening night of the John Mossy Moss Farewell Tour up at the King Power.

Marcus, Andy and Jim also look ahead to the weekend's Barclays banter, as Eddie Howe's inspiring man-management might halt Liverpool's title tilt and Norwich could be relegated if Burnley's surge continues. All on today's Preview Show, sponsored by Betway!

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We've just about recovered from Villarreal's disgraceful showing to get in for another Euro Ramble round-up. Imagine coming to Anfield and trying to keep it tight! PATHETIC.

Kate, Andy and Luke also look into Antonio Rudiger's confirmed departure from Chelsea, while Roy Keane casts admiring glances north of the border. There's also the small matter of the biggest game in West Ham's modern history and more Missouri brawls!

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Man City’s clash with Real Madrid had it all: incredible goals, terrible defending, an outrageous panenka and multiple Pep meltdowns. Bring on next week!

Marcus, Jim and Pete relive it all and wonder who will take the spoils in Madrid. Elsewhere last night, Nottingham Forest set up a tasty shootout with Bournemouth in the Championship and Paul Pogba's only gone and left the Manchester United WhatsApp group. Plus, something about Fizzer and Sven before Marcus loses his mind.

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Kate and Vish are joined by a tanned Jim Campbell for a look into the rumoured departure of comfort’s number one enemy, Antonio Conte. Punch glass for Poch!

Elsewhere, Leeds snagged a much-needed point last night ahead of a tricky few weeks, especially since Everton now have access to the Big Man upstairs, and Tracey Crouch’s fan-led review gets a definitely legitimate endorsement from the UK government.

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Jules, Luke and Pete are here to survey the respective car-crashes that were Man United’s trip to the Emirates and Jules’ Saturday night appearance on Pointless!

We kick off with the Merseyside derby as Everton sink deeper into the quagmire while Burnley and Mike Jackson moonwalk all over it. Elsewhere, Paul Scholes lands Jesse Lingard in bother, Jorginho takes one of the worst penalties in Premier League history, and things take a turn on Planet Mark McGhee!

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Everton need to calm their nerves after Burnley took a scary step closer last night - a Merseyside derby at Anfield will be just the tonic.

Kate, Andy and Vish look ahead to a weekend of derbies across the land, as Chelsea take on West Ham and Man Utd will no doubt puncture any joy from the Erik ten Hag announcement by captiluating at Arsenal. All of that and loads more on today's Preview Show, sponsored by Betway!

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Kate, Andy and Luke recap more midweek Barclays, with Thomas Tuchel furious at his own pitch and an Angry Almiron smashing one top bins - just in time for a transfer!

Also, would you like to hear from managers at half-time? Soon you may be able to - though we realise Dundee boss Mark McGhee is probably not the man to ask.

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If you're Manchester United, dragging off Phil Jones at half-time and letting Thiago stroll around like he's on holiday, it's not looking good. Best of luck, Erik ten Hag!

Jules, Vish and Lars look over United's capitulation at Anfield and celebrate Fulham's inevitable promotion. Lars also gives us his thoughts on the Erling Haaland rumours and how he might fit in at Manchester City.

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Kate, Pete and Vish recap a chaotic afternoon in the EFL which saw Derby County finally relegated from the Championship. We give deserved props to Wayne Rooney and the squad, before asking where the club goes from here.

We also inadvertently start a ball boy revolution, celebrate some good times at St James’ Park and decide every goal is indeed a hit and hope.

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What a weekend of cup football! Man City laid out the red carpet for Liverpool to moonwalk all over, while Kai Havertz escaped Wembley prison rules with his own ticket to the final. 

Elsewhere, hands across Glasgow and Edinburgh served up two cracking Scottish cup semis, while the battle for the Premier League top four takes another bizarre turn.

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Owen Hargreaves has claimed that Tottenham should be able to seal the fourth and final Champions League spot for next season after Arsenal failed to beat Southampton today.

The Gunners had the chance to draw level with Spurs on 57 points with a win today after seeing them lose to Brighton in the early-afternoon, but once again we failed to bring home the points.

It was the Saints first win in seven matches, and leaves us with slim hopes of climbing back inside the top four, and looking ahead to our next matches we have plenty to be alarmed about.

Owen Hargreaves has taken that all in to name Tottenham as the side who are most likely to claim fourth after seeing the latest performances, with our upcoming fixtures definitely a big task.

‘Fixture-wise, it’s tough for Arsenal,’ he said on Premier League Productions(via the Metro). ‘They struggled against Crystal Palace, Brighton and Southampton.

Arsenal lost yet another game this afternoon to leave their hopes of a top-four finish in on tenterhooks, and youngster Sambi Lokonga has urged his team-mates to step-up.

The Gunners could take the easy excuse and blame the fact that they are missing some key players since the international break, with Thomas Partey and Kieran Tierney no longer expected to play a part in the remainder of our campaign, and with Takehiro Tomiyasu having been missing for almost the entirety of 2022 thus far.

Our form has dropped off a cliff since the international break however, which could be down to those absences aforementioned, but at this point in the campaign there is zero room for error as we drift away from the Champions League places, and Lokonga has urged his team-mates to step up and make sure we ‘don’t feel like’ those injured players are missing.

Lokonga told Arsenal Media: “We know the plan, we know what we have to do, of course, [some of] the main players are missing but yeah, we need to give our best so we don’t feel they’re missing.

“We need to believe, I think that’s the first thing. We need to stick together. We’ve been through this so we can do it again.”

Mikel Arteta has claimed that having watched the game you would have seen that ‘Arsenal won the game’ despite the resulting proving to be different.

The Gunners had the chance to draw level with Tottenham after they folded against Brighton earlier on today, but we couldn’t take it.

We looked the better team, and while we had a number of clear-cut chances to break the deadlock in the opening 45 minutes, Fraser Forster was equal to our efforts, and we ended up going into the break behind.

We still tried to push on in search of the equaliser after the break, but Southampton were forcing us to to keep our distance from goal, packing out their back line in order to limit us to try something special, and we just couldn’t find it.

While the manager admits that it was a ‘huge’ opportunity which was missed this afternoon, he feels even worse given that he believes his side should have won the game.

Southampton have beaten Arsenal by a 1-0 score-line this afternoon, leaving pure disappointment on the faces of our fans.

The Gunners went into today’s match knowing that we needed to take advantage of Tottenham’s failure to beat Brighton earlier on today, but once again we leave disappointed.

Despite being winless in their last six matches, they put in a solid display of focus and used their more experienced players to get the better of a tactical game, although it wasn’t always destined to go that way.

Fraser Forster put in a number of saves in the first-half which he had no right to get to, with Bukayo Saka’s close-range effort one that is stuck in my mind, although the youngster should have done much better to find either of the low corners of the goal instead of hitting it towards the centre of the goal.

We were punished right before half-time at a point in the game where we had been looking dangerous, and they came out after the break with a purpose. For the majority of the second-half, while our players were trying to scrap, they couldn’t get close enough to the goal, and Forster isn’t the type of goalkeeper to be beaten from range.

Arsenal have been punished by Southampton who take the lead just before half-time to pile more misery on our side.

We should have had the bit between our teeth after seeing Tottenham lose to Brighton and gift us the opportunity to close in on fourth spot in the table, but despite our efforts, we go into the break behind.

It was Bednarek who found himself in the box to finish up, after we failed to clear the corner before it was fired in behind our defence once more, but it was hit with some power to beat goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale.

Pictures courtesy of Dazn

There is still another half to get the win here, with our team having had a number of chances to go ahead already, and we will need to be focused being more clinical after the break

Alexandre Lacazette has been missing from training in recent days, and was also a notable absentee from today’s playing squad to take on Southampton, and Arsenal have finally explained why.

Manager Mikel Arteta refused to explain any reasoning for his striker’s absence when speaking to the press on Friday, claiming that he was hopeful that he would be available today to take on the Saints at St Mary’s, but it has now been revealed that he has in fact tested positive for Covid-19.

Alex Lacazette misses out on today's matchday squad after testing positive for Covid.

Wishing you all the best, @LacazetteAlex

— Arsenal (@Arsenal) April 16, 2022

The teams are out for this afternoon’s Premier League clash at St Mary’s Stadium, with this Arsenal side set to take on Southampton.

Neither side comes into today’s outing in the best of form, with the Gunners losing both of their last two while the home side are winless in six, coincidentally conceding six in their last fixture also.

While you would think that the Gunners would be confident of a result with all things considered, there is key injury absentees as well as some disappointing performances which will be stuck in their mind, and you would hope that this team will give us the impetus to start the match brightly and look to assert things here today.

TEAM NEWS!

Tavares returns to the XI
Odegaard captains the side
Nketiah starts up front#SOUARS