Match Preview: Arsenal v Leicester City; Looking for 10 In a Row
It’s been a longer than normal wait for the Arsenal to resume play coming back from another pointless international break, but here we are on a Monday waiting for Arsenal to face off against Leicester City to see if they can extend their unbeaten run to 10 games in all competitions.
When the Premier League season started off, there was a level of acceptance that things would take time. The first two results against Man City and Chelsea solidified that. The run after those games was more favorable and it would hopefully allow Arsenal time to mature and grow under new manager, Unai Emery’s style of play.
They’ve done that and more. However, it’s still not without growing pains. Until the last league tie against Fulham, Arsenal really hadn’t looked great in the wins they were wracking up.
Some of the wins looked so disjointed and were probably gotten with a stroke of luck and good goalkeeping. Emery still looked to be finding his best XI (something I am still not sure he knows – but he’s closer.) but the wins kept coming and well, we find ourselves here.
Arsenal are back fighting for a spot in the top 4 and have another chance today to continue that impressive run. But the opponent isn’t a slouch and it will require Arsenal to replicate the fluid play we saw just at the break against Fulham.
Leicester City are a team that possess pace and attacking power to hurt our wobbly defensive structure. Demarai Gray is out and will be a big miss for the visitors. But with the likes of Iheanacho, Vardy and Okazaki available, they still possess enough to hurt us.
Still, Leciester have been caught out quite a lot this year on the counter-attack and with Wes Morgan serving a ban after picking up his second red card of the season against Eveteron, they could be a plum target for an attack that features Aubameyang and Lacazette, especially with the Frenchman in fine form.
Obviously, part of the concern with this Monday night fixture is that three days later we have to travel to Portugal to take on Sporting Lisbon in the Europa League. As Emery has tried to play strong teams in that competition, how will he address that with his team selection tonight?
I suspect that Özil will start over Ramsey, with the Welshman getting the nod for Thursday and I also won’t be surprised if Iwobi gets the start over Henrikh Mkhitarayan. The Armenian forward still has not found his rhythm under the Spaniard while Iwobi seems to be thriving under the new manager.
Last season his performances were at best inconsistent, this season he seems to be staying wider more and more importantly getting into the final third more often. The end result is a player having a bigger impact on games and contributing more in the attack for Arsenal.
He’s getting into more dangerous positions and his rate of goals has improved. His improved performances has resulted in scoring 1, assisting twice, and been instrumental in 5 other Arsenal goals.
Right now if you have to select anyone for tonight it’s Iwobi over Mkhi any day of the week.
Unai Emery has seen a resurgence of Arsenal and we are all feeling quite good but as the manager has said, caution must be observed – there is still room to improve. The hope is tonight we see continued improvement across all facets of the game and Arsenal are able to continue their run of good form.
Players to Watch:
Arsenal: Alex Iwobi. He’s been one of many beneficiaries of Emery’s work so far. Can he continue to be the influence he has been whether as a starter of a super sub?
Leicester City: James Maddison. As Vardy has aged and become less of the central focus its at LCFC, its now Maddison playing the central role and becoming a threat every time he is on the ball.
Probable Lineups:
Arsenal: Leno; Bellerin, Mustafi, Holding, Monreal; Torreira, Xhaka; Özil, Aubmeyang, Iwobi; Lacazette
Leicester City: Schmeichel; Chilwell, Evans, Maguire, Amartey; Mendy, Ndidi, Maddison, Iheancho, Pereira; Vardy
Injuries and Suspensions:
Arsenal: Cech (hamstring), Maitland-Niles (leg), Jenkinson (ankle), Mavropanos (groin), Koscielny (achilles)
Leicester City: Gray (ankle), James (achilles), Morgan (suspended 1 of 2)
Form (last 5)
Arsenal: WWWWW
Leicester City: LLWWL
Goals Scored Per Game Average:
Arsenal: 2.33 (home average)
Leicester City: 1.4 (away average)
Goals Conceded Per Game Average
Arsenal: 1.2 (home average)
Leicester City: 1.4 (away average)
Leading Scorer:
Arsenal: Aubameyang, Lacazette – 4
Leicester City: Maddison, Vardy – 3
What the Manager Says: (Courtesy Arsenal.com)
“I think we need to improve a lot,” said our head coach.
“I think we have to continue doing a lot of things to get better. Our demands need to be very high. The supporters can enjoy it with us but also we’re speaking with our reality every day.
“If we are remembering the last match at the Emirates [against Watford], we won but not playing like we want, with the control against the opposition.
“The first two matches we lost, against Manchester City and Chelsea. But after six matches winning in the Premier League, our target hasn’t changed. [We need] this calm because we [beat] a lot of opposition teams with very [poor] performances.
“We need to stay with the best teams in the Premier League. To stay with them, we need to do better and get better at different things.”
Match Officials:
Referee: Chris Kavanagh (5M, 15Y, 0R)
Assistants: Daniel Cook, Sian Massey-Ellis
Fourth official: Jonathan Moss
Broadcast Information:
UK: Sky Sports 20.00 GMT
US: NBC Sports Network 3:00 PM EST
Match Facts: (Courtesy BBC.co.uk)
- Arsenal have never lost a home Premier League match against Leicester City, winning the last 11.
- They could become the first club to win 50 top-flight meetings with the Foxes.
- Leicester could win consecutive top-flight fixtures versus Arsenal for the first time since 1983.
- However, they are winless in a club record 21 top-flight visits to Arsenal since a 2-0 victory in 1973 (D3, L18).
- Arsenal are attempting to win 10 consecutive games in all competitions for only the sixth time, and first since a run of 12 ended in October 2007.
- They have scored 27 goals in their last nine matches, averaging three per game.
- The Gunners have also scored a league-high 14 second-half goals this season.
- Arsenal have won 10 of their last 12 Premier League home matches, losing only to Manchester City on two occasions.
- They have won 22 consecutive Premier League home games against teams outside the established top six, by an aggregate score of 64-11.
- Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been involved in a team-high 21 goals in 2018, scoring 16 and assisting five.
YAMA Predicts:
Arsenal 2 – 1 Leicester City
