What sort of side will Claude Puel put out ? will he try and attack or try to subdue an Arsenal side who are in last chance saloon.

This is a do or die game for Arsenal and perhaps Arsene Wenger's tenure at the Emirates and ironically his compatriot on the other bench could be in exactly the same position.

Put bluntly if Arsenal lose or for that matter even draw they would find their hopes of Champions League football next season virtually over and this would see the Arsenal fans turn on their manager.

So what does Claude Puel do tonight, he could see his team jump to 8th if they beat the Gunners, but what tactics does he adopt.

If he tries to attack as he did against Chelsea and Manchester City then we could get murdered by the Arsenal pace, but if we try to counter it by sitting three men deep to protect our centre of defence then we do so at the expense of being able to commit men forward when we attack.

Puel did this at Liverpool and although it meant that Liverpool rarely got in behind us of could run at our defence it also meant that when we attacked on the break we rarely did so with numbers and the home defence was able to deal with it easily.

So it is a dilemma for Puel, the problem since losing Van Dijk has been one of shipping goals, if he deals with that issue by packing the centre of midfield and keeping them deep lying it means we lose out on the attacking options.

If he tries to attack then Arsenal could murder us as they did in the FA Cup.

Saints performances over the last couple of seasons have been built on a strong central defensive pairing who can cope with counter attacks meaning that we could commit men forward when we attack ourselves, we haven't got that now and that has mean't that to deal with it we have to dilute our attacking options.

This is why our results have veered from good to appalling of late, even the games we ave kept clean sheets in have not exactly been strong defensive performances, Bournemouth on another day could have had and should have had three, Palace should have scored more and Liverpool although short on clear chances still capitalised on the two times we did have lapses in concentration and but for Fraser Forster would have won the game.

So I think that tonight Puel has no option other than to continue on from Liverpool, it is not going to be good to watch, but is going to be preferable to another Chelsea or Man City.

Arsenal are a side who are quick and like to attack on the break, we have to make sure that they don't do so and damage us.

At the start of the season we had the personnel to cope as was shown by our performance at the Emirates that saw us lose 2-1 in controversial fashion and deserve at least a point perhaps more, now we cannot defend as we have done in the past, so we have to adapt.

Saints stand at a crossroads, if they fail to win any of their last four games then we could finish as low as 16th, however if we can win two of them we are guaranteed a top ten finish possibly higher.

If we do the former then Claude Puel's job at St Mary's will be on a knife edge, if it is the latter it may just paper over the cracks.

Yes Puel has had problems that are not within his control, but too often he has put out the wrong team and made the wrong substitutions and that is something that Les Reed and Ralph Krueger surely cannot be unaware of.

Photo: Action Images

TimSaint added 11:12 - May 10 Did we really try to attack Man City at St Marys ? Apart from one Tadic chance to put us one up, we rarely threatened their 18 yard box, let alone their goal - even when we were behind and going for it a bit more !! Perhaps the game would have been different had we gone 1-0 up !! Tadic's lack of concentration (again) cost us big time, perhaps !! Nick, why do you persist with mentioning the defensive lapses in concentration against Bournemouth and Palace ? We know we have 3rd and 4th choice central defenders, so we are always going to concede chances to any opposition - and especially Liverpool at Anfield !! If you are giving a balanced view, then In the same piece, you should also be mentioning the great chances our attack missed in the same Bournemouth and Palace games - their lack of concentration and focus in front of goal could have put us 2 or 3-0 up in both games - which totally changes the game, but instead, whilst it stays at 0-0, it puts more pressure on the defence. It is a team game and lack of concentration can take place all over the pitch - not just in the central defender areas !! Caceres will not play for Saints this season unless we get an injury to Jack or Yoshi, so get behind our team and defence and please resist your temptation to pick up on only their 'lapses in concentration' !! As for tonight, we will probably set up to go for another 0-0, hope we don't concede and maybe hit them on the break in the last 20 mins. If we do, then I would like to see both Gab and Shane up front together, rather than just swapping them. Also expecting a performance from Tadic tonight - as he was linked with a move to the Emirates as a possible 'cheap' replacement for Ozil, so will be out to impress Wenger !! Hoping we can nick this one, say 1-0 and I'd like Gab to get back on the score sheet please !!

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JDawg added 11:46 - May 10 I can't help but think we've got the excitement of four 0-0 draws to look forward to!
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carolinasaint added 13:29 - May 10 I respectfully disagree, Nick. I would much rather see us be at least a bit more adventurous than we were against Liverpool. We've had good success against Arsenal, particularly at St Mary's, since our return to the PL, both in terms of results and actual gameplay. I see no reason why it can't continue tonight.
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Fordy added 15:17 - May 10 If Arsene Wenger has any sense he'll play Giroud and pump balls into the box and watch our small defenders get bullied like they did against Kompany and Costa. Fortunately, Wenger has no sense and they'll pass it around and we'll sit back and maybe scrape a 0-0. I honestly believe we're totally susceptible to a team with a bit of height that are ok in the air at the moment. Let's hope Giroud is on the bench.

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SanMarco added 16:19 - May 10 Give the fans some value for their hard-earned is what I say. Surely, at this stage of the season, a cracking match with a 3-4 defeat is better than playing for a dull 0-0. We are unlikely to get that anyway - Arsenal’s weaknesses are at the back: if we don’t score we will lose this one. And there is NO NEED for “rotation” – the season ends in 11 days time, they can rest then.

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arthurfane added 16:38 - May 10 Hear, hear SanMarco - am going tonight. Live in London so not an easy journey and will get home after midnight on a work night - a point's a point, but will be livid if we set up for a 0-0 draw. In other news - Eric Black talking about how Van Dijk "will have options". Seriously, we all know this is the case, but shut up and do your job. He offers little to the club bar his grasp of the French language, and literally the first interview I hear with him he's touting our best player to other clubs. Bring Sammy Lee back in the summer I say!

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