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Rampant Arsenal Take On Leicester

The Premier League threw out a series of intriguing games yesterday, with many fans up and down the country getting the chance to witness some intriguing games in the wake of the international break coming to an end. Of course, there’s still 36 hours or so remaining of this matchday and we’re still in for two more games – with Everton vs Crystal Palace taking place later today. The game that really interests us, however, will take place at the Emirates tomorrow evening when Arsenal look to keep their recent winning run going against a Leicester City side who have started the season well.

Both of these clubs possess realistic ambitions in terms of where they want to finish in the Premier League this season, and beyond that, they should both be confident in their ability to make some noise in the cup competitions. These are two sides who have a rich history when it comes to English football, and they’ve been rivals in one way or another many times in the past. A lot of fans in North London (including Tottenham) point towards Leicester’s recent title winning campaign as a huge missed opportunity, given that both Arsenal and Spurs were probably the two closest contenders.

In the present day, though, Arsenal and Leicester seem to be in fairly good positions. The Foxes have been able to firmly establish themselves as Premier League regulars, and seem to have the potential to push themselves back up into the European places whenever they see fit. On the other end of the spectrum, you’ve got Arsenal who, unbelievably, are only a few points off the top of the table under Unai Emery. Their resurgence has been one of the stories of the season so far, and it only looks set to continue over the next few months.

Arguably the best thing about this game, though, is that neither team will be afraid to come forward. In recent years, under Arsene Wenger, it feels like Arsenal became a shadow of themselves on the pitch and it doesn’t feel like that’s a horrendous thing to say. They just haven’t been able to piece things together, but all of that has changed now – and Leicester have also had to face some adversity, too. Some fans even suggested that they could get relegated the year after they won the title, but they ensured that it didn’t come to that.

As many folks now know Arsenal’s last six games have been fairly emphatic to say the least, and beyond that their last nine. They kicked off this recent stretch with a win against Vorskla in the Europa League, before seeing off the challenge of Everton in the Premier League and Brentford in the Carabao Cup. A comfortable triumph over Watford soon followed with another win in Europe against Qarabag, and in their last game two weeks ago, they put five past Fulham in a game that rubber stamped to the world that they are a real force to be reckoned with this season.

Leicester, on the other hand, have been ever so slightly more inconsistent. Back to back defeats against Liverpool and Bournemouth served as confident knockers, as they conceded six goals in those two games in the process. A win against Huddersfield helped to get them back on track before they knocked Wolves out of the Carabao Cup on penalties, which wound up being their second victory over Wolves this season already. Then they managed to defeat Newcastle United, but the inconsistency continued with a loss against Everton before the international break. Now, they’ll be desperate to get themselves back on track.

These two sides first met way back in 1895, when the game was contested between ‘Leicester Fosse’ and ‘Woolwich Arsenal’ which should tell you something about what these clubs have been able to contribute to the English game. Arsenal have a 65-30 lead in the overall head to head standings with a mammoth 44 draws between the two clubs, and it seems logical to suggest that they’ll continue to play each other for many years to come. In their last meeting, back in May, Leicester issued a proper send off to Arsene Wenger by defeating Arsenal 3-1 in his penultimate league game as boss.

Some Arsenal fans will be happy to learn that Mesut Ozil has recovered from a recent back problem, and will almost certainly play some kind of role in this game. Danny Welbeck’s hamstring problem has also cleared up which will allow him to feature, after spending the last few months proving to the world why he’s still a hot commodity for the Gunners. Sokratis Papastathopoulos (ankle) and Petr Cech (hamstring) both face late fitness tests, but regardless of Cech’s health, it seems as if Bernd Leno will continue to serve as the club’s number one from this point onwards.

Wes Morgan will be a big miss with his red card against Everton ensuring that he is suspended for this one, with Demarai Gray (ankle) and Matty James (Achilles) also both not being able to feature. Ben Chilwell should return as the Foxes aim to mix things up in the starting XI, which could prove to be a risky move. It’d be an interesting development to see them test out an alternative formation at the very least, and while consistency has been their problem lately, maybe it’s what they need in order to reach that next level in this division.

Arsenal vs Leicester Betting Prediction

If Arsenal are going to come away with all three points to keep their winning run going, they’ll have to be smart about it. Leicester aren’t going to give them many openings at the back especially away from home, so they’ll need to ensure that they can control the pace of the game in the middle of the park without allowing things to get too out of control. Leicester can be scrappy when they want to be, and the Gunners need to neutralise that with some intensity of their own on Monday night.

We think that we’ll see a goalless first 45 minutes in which both teams will have clear cut opportunities, but won’t quite be able to take their chances. When it gets to around the hour mark, however, we believe that the in-form Alexandre Lacazette is going to be the man who breaks the deadlock courtesy of some nice build-up play. That’ll really knock the confidence of the visitors which should allow the hosts to do what they’ve done so many times over the years – and that’s score a second goal in quick succession. So for an official prediction, we’ll go ahead and say 2-0.