Arsenal will want revenge - Koeman

Ronald Koeman believes that fresh memories of Southampton's 4-0 drubbing of Arsenal will mean that the Gunners will want revenge when the two sides meet on Tuesday evening.

Ronald Koeman was talking to the press ahead of Southampton's trip to the Emirates on Tuesday evening in the Premier League.

When Koeman was asked whether it was beneficial to play Arsenal so soon after the Boxing Day thrashing of Wenger's side, the Dutchman believed it was more beneficial for the Gunners than the Saints.

Koeman said: "I don’t know if it’s a benefit for us, maybe it’s a benefit for Arsenal if they like to show a little bit of revenge.

"They will be very prepared because they know we played four times against Arsenal - we won twice at home, we won the League Cup game at Arsenal and we lost in the last second by 1-0 when we played with 10 players.

"That’s tough for them. They know it’s difficult to beat Southampton. We have a good record when we play the big teams."

Koeman also highlighted the risk of Alexis Sanchez who has recently returned from injury for Arsenal.

"They have the pressure always to win. They can deal with that because they have great players. Sanchez is back and for them [he is] a big player who will be very important for the last part of the season."

Southampton will be looking for their fourth consecutive league victory when they come up against Arsenal, with Charlie Austin scoring eight minutes into his debut last weekend to secure a 1-0 win at Old Trafford. Koeman said that the new signing has settled in “very fast” and has been impressed with the way he’s trained.

"Of course he did a lot of work during the time he was injured. He’s on a very good physical level.

"He shows his qualities, not just by the goal he scored against United, but in the training sessions what he did with the rest of the players. I’m very happy he’s in."

The Saints boss also confirmed that it will be a very quiet deadline day at St. Mary's. Koeman said that Harrison Reed and Jack Stephens could be the only outgoings, with the club looking for the young duo to go out on loan for some valuable first team experience.