STEVE WILLIAMS is threatening to come off the fence when his old clubs Saints and Arsenal square up at St Mary's.

The former England international shone in midfield for both sides during the 1980s and he says: "I love both clubs so much that when they play, I don't really mind who wins.

"But tomorrow Saints need it more than Arsenal.

"I get the feeling Arsenal aren't going to win the Premiership this season, but I do fear for Saints.

"I would just hate to see them going down, and for that reason they need the points more than Arsenal do.

"But that's not to say I think Saints will win. Arsenal were wounded by Tuesday's defeat against Bayern Munich, and they tend to be a dangerous team when they are wounded."

Williams was the darling of The Dell terraces in the days when Saints finished second to Liverpool in the top flight and he feels the old ground was something of a fortress.

"Visiting teams hated coming to The Dell because when you played there, it felt like the crowd were on top of you.

"It was intimidating for the opposition and we had great players like Mick Channon who could quickly whip up the fans. Consequently, we won a lot more games there than we lost.

"St Mary's is a smashing stadium, but it's not a fortress for Saints any more. It's a nice open pitch, the kind on which teams like Arsenal thrive.

"They can sweep the ball around and play their football and despite the fact that they have fallen well behind Chelsea, there are still very few sides - Chelsea excepted maybe - who can live with them."

Williams now lives in South Devon where he runs a thriving property renovation business. He still plays alongside the likes of John Radford and Peter Marinello for Arsenal old boys, who raise a lot of money for charity.

"I don't get the chance to watch them as much as I would like," he remarked, "but when they play their first match at Ashburton Grove in 2006, I'll be the first in the queue for tickets.

"The new ground will give Arsenal the chance to compete on the same financial footing as Man Utd and that's a tremendously exciting prospect for their followers.

"I don't subscribe to talk that they have slipped a bit this season. It's only that Chelsea have had such a fanstastic season. Even top sides normally have a blip but not Chelsea. Maybe it's yet to come. I hope so."

Williams applauded the arrival of Harry Redknapp at St Mary's and reckons he could become their best manager since Lawrie McMenemy.

"Like Lawrie, he's great on the transfer market and he's a strong man manager. Given the chance to get on with the job, he'll do it well.

"But he must be given the chance. I doubt he'll brook any interference.

"He's improved the midfield by bringing in a playmaker Jamie Redknapp and a ball -winner in Nigel Quashie, and Henri Camara has injected some much-needed pace into the attack.

"Antti Niemi is second to none as a keeper - just the type that Arsenal need, in fact - but I have reservations about the rest of the defence. For my money, there's not enough pace in there.

"West Brom and Norwich will go down; the other relegation place is between Saints and Crystal Palace, and it grieves me to say it, but for me the Palace set-up looks more solid, they look a more competitive side.

"If push comes to shove, the game between the two sides could decide the issue and right now I can see Palace shading it; that's why I wouldn't mind Saints beating my home-town club tomorrow," the Hammersmith-born Williams concluded with a wry smile.

And he'll be there at St Mary's with his son Craig to watch the lunchtime drama unfold.