While the home fans will be hoping for an upturn in fortunes under Hasenhuttl, Al Hain-Cole thinks the in-form Gunners will spoil the Austrian's debut
Ralph Hasenhuttl will be hoping to introduce himself to the St Mary’s crowd in style when his Southampton side take on Arsenal on Sunday.
The Austrian manager suffered a 1-0 defeat away to Cardiff in his first match in charge, so will be looking for a reaction on his home debut.
However, his team are 14/5 (3.80) outsiders with William Hill to pull off a shock win against their in-form guests.
Indeed, the Gunners have gone 22 fixtures without defeat in all competitions, and are 10/11 (1.91) favourites to spoil the new manager’s occasion by coming out on top here.
Five of the hosts’ seven league matches on home turf this campaign have resulted in draws, and there are odds of 14/5 (3.80) available on this one also finishing up all square.
Cedric Soares will be hoping to return after missing the defeat at Cardiff with a slight calf strain, with Ryan Bertrand and Danny Ings also facing late fitness tests.
Sokratis and Shkrodan Mustafi are absent through suspension, while Rob Holding, Konstantinos Mavropanos, and Danny Welbeck are all injured. However, Laurent Koscielny and Mesut Ozil both returned to action against Qarabag on Thursday.
Although he arrives with an exciting reputation from his time in the Bundesliga, it would be a tall order to expect Hasenhuttl to immediately give the supporters a first home victory of the season given the calibre of the visitors.
Unai Emery’s team are currently enjoying their longest unbeaten run in over a decade, and have only lost twice in 17 away matches against the Saints.
What’s more, Southampton’s win percentage against Arsenal is their lowest against any opposition in the Premier League, and their current run of 14 matches without a victory does not suggest that record will improve on Sunday.
In fact, those 10/11 (1.91) odds actually look extremely generous on the guests giving Hasenhuttl a home debut to forget and coming away with all three points.