Leicester vs Arsenal preview
Arsenal will hope to build on their north London derby victory with a win when they visit the King Power Stadium for a league clash with unbeaten Leicester City on Saturday.
The Foxes are the only side still to taste defeat in the Premier League this season and they come into this game fresh from ending West Ham’s perfect away record by defeating the Hammers 2-1 in the Capital One Cup in midweek.
Claudio Ranieri’s main task is to ensure that Leicester become an established Premier League club, like Swansea City, Stoke City or Southampton, but the Foxes boss is currently getting more than expected from his charges as they sit third in the league.
Leicester’s success is less about the Italian’s tactical ingenuity and more about the industry and never-say-die attitude that Ranieri is getting from his players, who have developed the ability to produce a period of overwhelming pressure on opponents.
They blew away teams with fast starts in August, but the Foxes have since evolved into comeback kings. Thanks to the fighting spirit in their camp, City have managed to come from behind in all of their last four league encounters.
Arsenal started the season with the intention of winning the Premier League for the first time in a decade, but the Gunners are currently way off target. Arsene Wenger’s men are fifth in the table with five points separating them from Manchester City.
The Gunners’ main problem is their finishing because they create enough chances to win most games but only three teams have scored fewer goals in the league than them. They at least bounced back from the controversial London derby defeat to Chelsea by dumping Tottenham out of the League Cup on Wednesday.
Wenger will hope his charges will take the momentum from that victory over Spurs and become the first side to defeat Ranieri’s men this season.
Leicester City team news
- Winger Nathan Dyer sat out the last two games because of a knee complaint and could miss out again.
- Matty James continues his long-term recovery from an ACL knee injury.
Arsenal team news
- Jack Wilshere (hairline fracture), Danny Welbeck and Tomas Rosicky (both knee) are expected to miss the trip to Leicester.
- Francis Coquelin could also be sidelined because of a knee injury he picked up at Chelsea last weekend.
- Santi Cazorla is back after serving his one-match suspension in midweek.
- Gabriel Paulista had his three-match ban for violent conduct rescinded.
Leicester vs Arsenal prediction
Ranieri turned to his fringe players in the Capital One Cup victory over West Ham and was delighted with their performances, but the Italian boss is likely to revert back to the regulars in a 4-4-2 formation.
Jamie Vardy is officially the quickest player in the league after reaching 35.44km/h against West Ham. He is likely to stretch play by making runs in behind Arsenal’s central defenders during counter-attacks. Shinji Okazaki will probably be Vardy’s supporting striker, while Marc Albrighton provides in-swinging crosses as an inverted winger on the left flank.
N’Golo Kante had a brief cameo in midweek, while Danny Drinkwater was rested, so the pair should be fresh to start in central midfield. Riyad Mahrez has arguably been the best player in the league this season and the Algerian is expected to assume a free role by drifting infield from the right flank.
Wenger should rotate his full-backs with Kieran Gibbs and Mathieu Debuchy, who started in midweek, giving way to the Spanish pair of Nacho Monreal and Hector Bellerin, respectively.
In midfield, Flamini could start as the holding midfielder after his heroics at Tottenham. Cazorla will probably return to the side as the central midfielder with the licence to push on. Mesut Ozil may be flanked by Aaron Ramsey and Alexis Sanchez as the attacking midfielders supporting Theo Walcott in a 4-2-3-1 formation.
Flamini’s performance will be an interesting one to keep an eye on. He should start if Coquelin misses out, but the French midfielder will have a more defensive role than the one he assumed at Spurs.
Very few holding midfielders have kept Mahrez quiet so far this season and whoever plays as Arsenal’s holding midfielder will have his work cut out.
Score prediction
Leicester City 2-2 Arsenal.
