No matter what happens at Southampton FC on Sunday, it’s three straight second place finishes, but also at the same time, trophyless seasons for Arsenal FC. Sure, you could say that 2023 doesn’t quite count, because the Gunners claimed the FA Community Shield. But then again, maybe we should designate that campaign as sans silverware because we have to remember why the Gunners were even in that match to begin with.
Manchester City won both the Premier League and the FA Cup the previous season, so they needed an opponent.
Championship Sunday FYIs
Arsenal vs Southampton FC
Kickoff: Sun. May 25, 2025, at 4pm UK, St. Mary’s Stadium, Southampton
Arsenal Preview Content: Starting XI Prediction Team News
Google Result Probability: Southampton FC 10% Draw 15% Arsenal 75%
PL Position, Form Guide: Southampton FC 19th, 12 pts, DLLDL Arsenal 2nd, 71 pts WDLDW
With all these runner-up finishes, plus a good number of deep runs in tournaments that didn’t culminate in glory, well Arsenal are becoming “almost men.”
It’s kind of like a version of being, dare we say it, “Spursy.” Yes, we went there. We said that word, which is associated with Arsenal’s bitter North London rivals. Our apologies. After all, Tottenham just won El Trashico, or The Worse Than Mid Cup. So we’ll give them their proper due now.
In figuring out the lineup for this meaningless match, we left out the likes of Gabriel Martinelli, Jorginho and Raheem Sterling. Why? Well, we expect to see a mix of starters and reserves here, as everything of note, is already settled on both sides.
Arsenal Starting Lineup Prediction at Southampton FC
Neto; Riccardo Calafiori, Jakub Kiwior, Ben White, Oleksandr Zinchenko; Martin Odegaard, Declan Rice; Kai Havertz, Ethan Nwaneri, Leandro Trossard; Bukayo Saka
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter