Out-of-form Arsenal will be looking to ease the pressure on under-fire manager Mikel Arteta when they welcome high-flying Southampton to the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday evening.
The Gunners go into their 13th match of the campaign sitting 15th in the table, just five points above the relegation zone, whereas Southampton climbed into the top four with a comfortable victory over Sheffield United at the weekend.
In what has been one of the most unpredictable Premier League seasons ever, these two teams perhaps best typify the narrative of big clubs underperforming and underdogs punching above their weight.
For Arsenal, the picture looks more and more bleak with each passing week, whereas hopes of a successful campaign for Southampton seem to grow almost every time they take to the field at the moment.
Eleven points and 11 places separate the two sides in the Premier League table, while at the same stage of last season it was Arsenal sitting sixth and Southampton struggling in 19th.
That is perhaps the best representation of how far the Saints have come in the space of a year or so, but for Arsenal things are looking even worse than they were under Unai Emery.
Indeed, the Spaniard had been sacked by this point of last season, yet the Gunners were still four points better off than they are after 12 games of this season.
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