New Year’s Days late kick off in the Premier League sees Southampton host Arsenal at St. Mary’s.
The hosts go in to the game having dropped in to the relegation zone courtesy of Cameron Jerome’s superb last minute equaliser in the thrilling 3-3 draw at Stoke City on Saturday, though victory here could see them rise to sixteenth place if other results fall in their favour.
Captain Adam Lallana is expected to miss out as he struggles to recover from a knee injury, though Gaston Ramirez could return to the starting line-up after being left on the bench at the weekend.
Top scorer Rickie Lambert now has eight for the season, and the striker is widely available at 8.5 (15/2) to add to that tally with the first goal of the game.
The Saints are as highly priced as 4.8 (19/4) to take all three points, with Arsenal odds on favourites at a best price of 1.8 (4/5). The draw can be backed at 3.8 (14/5).
Arsenal begin 2013 in fifth position, having thumped Newcastle 7-3 on Saturday evening.
Per Mertesaker should be available for selection after recovering from illness, though Abou Diaby and Andre Santos remain side-lined.
Theo Walcott’s hat trick on Saturday took him to fourteen goals for the season, and it is perhaps unsurprising that he is favourite at 6.0 (5/1) to open the scoring here, while you can find a price of 29.0 (28/1) for the England man to get another treble.
