During the upcoming New Year’s Day match, it does not matter whether Koeman would opt for a 3-5-2 or 4-4-2 against Arsenal. One thing’s for sure, Morgan Schneiderlin absence will be considerably felt on Southampton’s side. Indeed, the French player has been suspended for the upcoming match after his fifth booking harvested for the season during the 1-1 draw match played against Chelsea. Schneiderlin had also reaped two bookable offences during that same match. This meant that Southampton was compelled to get through during the final minutes of normal time and had another four due to the stoppages.
Generally, Schneider with his expert defence skills, stays at the front for Southampton along with Victor Wanyama. Alexis Sanchez and Santi Cazorla also usually thrive in this exact area on Arsenal’s side. These players are also the most dangerous in this position. With Southampton’s Jack Cork still on the sideline, Harrison Reed might be offered another chance to impress the crowd with Schneiderlin’s recent suspension.
Harrison Reed is yet another prodigy out of Southampton’s youth academy. The player is currently 19. His game impressed a lot of people during his first match for the club some days ago against Everton. Arguable Everton was quite out-of-form during this last match and it would now be interesting to watch Reed play again. His teammates have nicknamed him Ray Donovan due to his habit of cleaning up in midfield, according to fellow player Shane Long. The Thursday match might just be a tougher test for the player.