Arsenal take on in-form Leicester City in their seventh league match of the season, away at the King Power Stadium.
The north London side are well underway in their campaign and have settled in, despite a perhaps rocky start to the season where they’ve only won half their league games, and lost their Champions League opener against Dinamo Zagreb. Morale at London Colney would’ve risen after Wednesday night’s performance, where they put in a good shift in their first North London derby of the season to beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1, away in the third round of the League Cup.
Looking at their performance at White Hart Lane, there were a lot of promising factors. Despite a heavily changed team, we saw fringe players like Kieran Gibbs, David Ospina and Mathieu Flamini excel when needed, trying to push for a starting berth. The final name had a magnificent game, contributing all across the board with two tackles, two interceptions, two chances created and two goals scored, the second of which was a fantastic volley – fully deserving of the Man of the Match award he would later receive. That Arsenal side showed a lot of fight, quality and perseverance to get a win which could get the season back on track.
Moving to Leicester, where a fantastic story is going on under Claudio Ranieri. A side which was tipped for relegation after sacking Nigel Pearson and appointing a supposed has-been who failed with the Greece team has been rejuvenated. The Foxes are unbeaten in all competitions so far this season, carrying on their stellar form which saved them from the drop last season. Their fast, direct counter-attacking play led by the likes of Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy has worked by creating a constant supply of goals which has outweighed the goals conceded – a wise tactic for a team that need to go all out to win if they are to remain stable in the league. They sit in fourth place in the league table, and Arsenal will face a formidable, confident threat in them on Saturday.
Looking to their last match, it was to dispatch fellow Premier League side West Ham 2-1 in the fourth round of the League Cup. A fairly even match with a goal each in the initial 90 minutes, it required extra time to solve the game – Ranieri’s side’s first goal coming from Leicester City product and Arsenal target Joe Dodoo, his fourth goal in two matches in the League Cup. Leicester looked energetic in the extra 30 minute period, causing Adrian to perform heroics between the sticks for the second time in the space of five days. It was too much however for the Hammers, with Andy King steering in a header four minutes before a penalty shootout would’ve ensued. A strong performance which showcased the players’ energy and stamina, giving them hope for the weekend.
A player Arsenal will want to watch out for is Riyad Mahrez. The in-form winger has a goal and three assists in his last two appearances and is looking more and more complete as a winger – his ability in one on ones and strength at cutting inside and offering a central threat really standing out. The Algerian will be a tricky player for the Arsenal defence to handle.
A player for Leicester to watch is Alexis Sanchez. He scored when he last went to the King Power Stadium and provided a much-needed burst, with some good runs made when coming off the bench last Wednesday. Expect him to take on the slow and weak Leicester defence with ease, a defence who have failed to keep a clean sheet this season in the league.
The last time these two teams faced in the league was at the Emirates last February. Arsenal won 2-1, in a nervy performance where goals from Theo Walcott and Laurent Koscielny prevented Andrej Kramaric’s later goal being nothing more than a consolation, despite Leicester City really piling on the pressure when they went two goals down. I envisage something similar to happen this Saturday – Arsenal to take the lead fairly early on, but with some late pressure from the Foxes forcing them to put their backs to the wall and defend well.
Team News
Santi Cazorla comes back from suspension, whilst Gabriel’s three game ban was rescinded following appeal. Per Mertesacker is back in contention after playing on Wednesday, but Jack Wilshere, Tomas Rosicky and Danny Welbeck will still be sitting out for some while yet with foot and knee injuries respectively. Francis Coquelin should be available after recovering from a minor knee problem sustained in Arsenal 2-0 defeat to Chelsea.
Matty James is still recovering from a knee injury for Leicester, but Claudio Ranieri has confirmed that Nathan Dyer will be absent from Saturday after injuring his knee when scoring the winner vs Aston Villa.
Predicted XIs
Leicester City (4-2-2): Schmeichel; De Laet, Huth, Morgan, Schlupp; Mahrez, Drinkwater, Inler, Albrighton; Okazaki, Vardy.
Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Cech; Bellerin, Gabriel, Koscielny, Monreal; Ramsey, Coquelin; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Özil, Alexis; Walcott.
Prediction:
A 2-1 win to the Arsenal. The Gunners will go into the dressing rooms at half time with a 2-0 lead via goals from Aaron Ramsey and Alexis Sánchez, but Leicester will try to initiate a comeback like they have many times this season, and grab a goal through Shinji Okazaki. They’ll put a lot of pressure on Arsenal in the second half, but to no avail as they’ll pick up their first loss of the campaign.
