And that’s all from me. Bye!
Nick Ames has filed his match report from the Emirates Stadium:
Perhaps, to save everybody’s time, the first 80 minutes of a tight affair might have been forsaken. The one sure thing about a meeting between Leicester and Arsenal is that Jamie Vardy will score and he did not disappoint, even though he had only half an hour to make an impact here.
Vardy had started among the substitutes, a calf injury having ruled him out for the previous fortnight, but as soon as he emerged the complexion changed. Leicester had absorbed a vigorous first half from Arsenal and perhaps it was part of Brendan Rodgers’ plan that, having done so, they could win this game from the bench.
That is exactly what happened and Vardy was not the only replacement to make that so. Cengiz Under had barely touched the ball when he was released by Youri Tielemans’ exemplary deep pass and, running into the right of the box, had to decide whether to pass or shoot. His choice, a clipped cross onto Vardy’s head, was perfect and the finish emphatic. It was Vardy’s 11th Premier League goal against Arsenal, maintained Leicester’s perfect away record, gave them their first win at Arsenal since 1973 and took them into fourth spot, while perpetuating the questions about the hosts’ ability to break teams down.
Much more here:
The only teams Arsenal are outshooting this season are Newcastle, West Bromwich Albion and Crystal Palace.
Arsenal Shots per game
— Orbinho (@Orbinho) October 25, 2020
2020/21 - 8.8
19/20 - 10.7
18/19 - 12.3
17/18 - 15.6
16/17 - 14.9
15/16 - 15.0
14/15 - 16.1
13/14 - 13.8
12/13 - 15.7
11/12 - 16.8
10/11 - 17.2
09/10 - 17.4
08/09 - 17.4
07/08 - 16.5
06/07 - 16.8
05/06 - 14.6
04/05 - 14.9
03/04 - 14.2
You don’t get a lot of post-match analysis with Sky PPV, do you? They seem to have already lapsed into a state of permanent adbreakery.
1973 - Leicester picked up their first away win at Arsenal since September 1973, ending a run of 27 games without an away victory against them in all competitions. Gameplan. pic.twitter.com/NRYFEgFDAA
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 25, 2020
Jamie Vardy is having a party chat with Sky:
We had a gameplan from the start. We’ve weathered a bit of a storm but then started getting into it, and we’ve come away with a win. It’s big for us but it’s just the next game where we want to keep improving. We’ve had a couple of bad results and we wanted to put that right in the league. We spoke yesterday, it was always the plan, coming back from a biggle, you don’t want to be chucked straight into it. Luckily I’ve come on and made an impact. It gives us a little boost. Last two games in the league have not been good enough but to come here and put in a performance like we have is great for the team. We’ve just got to build on that now.
Arsenal were done like the proverbial kipper there. Leicester defended in numbers, were a bit lucky on a couple of occasions in the first half, but they had players on the bench capable of changing the game, and that’s what they did. This was not what of the Gunners’ good days, but rely on Xhaka in defence at your peril, and having also been very solid for most of the game they collapsed for the goal like a jelly in a sauna.
Full time: Arsenal 0-1 Leicester!
90+6 mins: It’s all over! Leicester have won at Arsenal for the first time in two generations!
90+5 mins: One more yellow card, to Xhaka for hauling Under back by the shoulders.
90+5 mins: Pepe’s corner is headed away by the man on the near post, and then he has another go but picks out Schmeichel.
90+4 mins: Arsenal win a corner. Leno comes as far as the centre circle, and then stops.
90+2 mins: Chance for a Leicester second! Vardy is played in behind Mustafi, to the left of goal, and he runs in, waits for Leno to commit himself, Leno refuses to commit himself, and Vardy eventually has to shoot anyway and lifts it into the goalkeeper’s head, from where it bounces to safety!
90+1 mins: There will be five minutes of stoppage time, but Arsenal have never really looked like scoring at any stage of the second half.
89 mins: Aubameyang started on the right, moved to the left after Pepe came on, and in the last few minutes has finally gone to the centre. A bit too late, probably.
86 mins: The goal was Leicester’s first and so far only shot on target. Arsenal have had four, and lead 12-5 on shots overall.
85 min: One last substitution, as Marc Albrighton comes on for Maddison.
82 mins: Every element of that goal was perfect: Tielemans’ pass, Under’s cross, and a straightforward header. Irresistible.
81 mins: Arsenal bring Nketia on for Tierney as they chase the game.
GOAL! Arsenal 0-1 Leicester (Vardy, 80 mins)
Arsenal are ripped to shreds! Tielemens hits an excellent high pass over Xhaka, who was snoozing a bit, for Under, who runs into the area and half-volleys a cross for Vardy, on the edge of the six-yard box, to head into an empty net!
Updated
78 mins: Nearly a something! Vardy lifts the ball over the defence for Under, who was only a good first touch away from a great chance! It’s a bad first touch.
75 mins: Cengiz Under comes on, replacing Barnes. “Sorry you missed the end of Groundhog Day,” writes Niall Mullen. “*SPOILER ALERT* It turns out the secret to spiritual fulfilment is kindness and the ability to be present. Anyway, as I haven’t forked out for the PPV, I’ve had the time to put together a Bill Murray football XI:
- Broken Tim Flowers
- Caddyshackinfenwa
- The Life Aquatic With Steve Zizou
- Brian Lyttle Shop of Horrors
- Fantastic Ruel Fox
- Ian Rushmore
- Zombielandy Townsend
- Moonrise Kingdominic Solanke
- The Darjeeling Limiteddy Sheringham
- Marlon Kingpin
- Groundhog Damian Duff”
Excellent idea. Um, Bas Dost in Translation? El [Grand Budapest Ho]Tel?
74 mins: A long Leicester move ends with Tielemans and Lacazette on the floor in pain and Evans in the book, apparently for being the only one of three players attempting to win the same header to walk away from it.
73 mins: Leicester are playing with more intent now, as if the idea from the start was to hold arsenal for an hour, bring Vardy on and feast on their frustration.
69 mins: That was Arsenal’s first shot of the second half, 22 minutes into the second period.
68 mins: Save! Aubameyang gets to the byline and crosses, and Bellerin runs onto it and volleys goalwards, but Schmeichel pushes clear!
Updated
67 mins: Maddison gets booked for manhandling Lacazette, who to be fair was in his way.
65 mins: Nicolas Pepe comes on for Saka, who has been bright in attack but insufficiently incisive, and completely missed his kick when he had a sight of goal.
61 mins: Remarkable scenes! The ball breaks free on the Leicester left. Bellerin commits and slides in, Justin gets there first, prods the ball away and goes down over Bellerin’s leg. It is as fouly a foul as you’re ever likely to see, and quite possibly a second booking for the Arsenal full-back. The referee, for some reason, waves play on!
60 mins: Jamie Vardy is back! Praet, meanwhile, goes off.
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59 mins: A lovely pass from Saka to Tierney takes Castagne out of the game, but Fofana gets back to block the cross.
57 mins: Another Lacazette foul, and this time he’s booked for running into Evans as the defender leapt for a header. Meanwhile, Jamie Vardy appears to be preparing to enter the fray.
57 mins: The shot goes high and also wide. Still, Leicester have had more shots in the last five minutes than in the previous 50.
56 mins: Now Lacazette fouls Mendy, maybe 30 yards from goal, and another Maddison shot might be on its way.
55 mins: Another Maddison shot, this from only 20 yards or so, after Castagne tackles Xhaka on halfway. This one deflects wide off Gabriel.
54 mins: Maddison wins the ball from Gabriel and has a shot from the halfway line, which floats harmlessly into Leno’s arms.
52 mins: Fofana gets booked for kicking Saka in the ankle. A legitimate attempt to win the ball, but all he got was opponent. Saka eventually gets to his feet and hobbles away.
49 mins: David Luiz is off, and Shkodran Mustafi is on.
48 mins: Gabriel gives the ball away, and for a moment Praet has an opportunity to play in Maddison. He doesn’t take it, and both Leicester players react with frustration. Meanwhile, David Luiz goes down as he tries to get back into position, presumably with some kind of muscular something.
46 mins: Peeeeep! Arsenal get the second half started. Both sides are unchanged, at least in terms of personnel.
Both sides will be looking for an improvement in the second half, as indeed will neutrals. On the plus side, one of the great benefits of this whole work-from-home business is that I can pop downstairs at the interval and get a glass of wine.
Half time: Arsenal 0-0 Leicester
45+3 mins: And that’s all for now! Safe to say it has been cagey, but Arsenal have had a goal disallowed and missed a couple of other good chances, and will feel they should be leading.
45+1 mins: Into first-half stoppage time, of which there’ll be two minutes or so. “Lacazette is giving one of his impressions of a small elephant that can’t play football,” writes Charles Antaki, “while Aubameyang is twiddling his thumbs out somewhere on the right. A conundrum.”
44 mins: Leicester have the ball for a while, and Arsenal very quickly drop until all 11 players are within 30 yards of their own goal, and eventually a Fuchs pass is intercepted by Ceballos.
42 mins: Ceballos lifts the ball into the penalty area, and it dips onto Saka’s left foot, but it’s a swing and a miss!
41 mins: Another yellow card, Tielemans punished for tripping Saka as he led a break. I wonder what percentage of all yellow cards these days are for deliberately preventing an opposition break?
39 mins: Arsenal are having very little fun down the middle. Their best hope looks to be long passes to one or other full-back and then a decent cross. As I type that, Gabriel chips a nice pass over the middle of the defence and Saka is only just offside.
38 mins: Fofana is back on the pitch and looks to have fully recovered.
34 mins: Lacazette is a little later to challenge Fofana as he clears. There’s not a lot of contact, but Fofana goes down and seems genuinely sore as the physios come on to look at him. The break gives us a chance to have another look at the disallowed goal, which could have been allowed to stand by a more forgiving VAR even if the offside Xhaka had to jump out of the way of the ball as it headed towards goal.
32 mins: And another one! Fuchs slides through the back of Lacazette and is inevitably booked.
Updated
30 mins: Yellow card! Bellerin trips Barnes, and gets cautioned for his pains.
Updated
29 mins: Bewildering miss! Castagna misjudges a crossfield pass to Tierney, who is thus free to send in a cross to Lacazette. It’s at head height, but Lacazette, put off perhaps by Fuchs, who lifts his foot in an attempt to get something on it, makes terrible contact and from five yards fails to convert!
Updated
28 mins: Tierney sends in an excellent cross, which dips onto the head of Lacazette at the far post, but maybe just an inch or two high. The ball loops off his head, up into the air and down into Schmeichel’s gloves.
25 mins: Another ball over the defence to Bellerin, who volleys in a low cross but Lacazette hasn’t anticipated it, and it’s cleared for a corner.
24 mins: A quarter of the way through the game, and Arsenal have certainly looked the more threatening side. I’m remain to be convinced by Barnes as a solo centre-forward.
Updated
21 mins: An excellent pass from Xhaka releases Lacazette on the left, who holds it up and passes infield to Saka, whose shot from an acute angle is stopped by Schmeichel. The flag goes up, but Lacazette was onside and any goal would have stood.
18 mins: Leicester break and Barnes crosses from the right, but it goes just behind Justin and his is the only blue shirt in the penalty area.
15 mins: Arsenal have really thrown themselves into this game, and have shown plenty of attacking endeavour. They win another corner, but it’s not a good one and it bounces out of play on the far side of goal.
13 mins: Now Arsenal cross from the right, and Gabriel attempts an overhead that becomes a clearance, sending the ball out to the left. Arsenal cross again, and Gabriel gets up, dusts himself down and tries another overhead, which is only marginally better than the first.
11 mins: Chance for Arsenal! Bellerin is played through by David Luiz. He brings it under control and he need only square the ball to give Lacazette a tap-in, but Evans slides in to block!
9 mins: It’s a deeply rubbish free kick, hit slowly into the knee of someone in the wall.
9 mins: Lacazette is tripped, 23 yards from goal or so, and Xhaka will fancy his chances of influencing play again.
7 mins: I’m not sure anyone touched the ball after Lacazette flicked it on, so it must have been disallowed for Xhaka influencing play by standing in front of the goalkeeper.
Updated
4 mins: Goal! Bit it’s disallowed! Arsenal win a corner, flick it on at the near post, and it goes in at the far! There were three Arsenal players offside when it was flicked goalwards, and at least one of them in Schmeichel’s path, so the question was what the goal would get disallowed for rather than whether it would get disallowed at all.
Updated
3 mins: Good spot, this:
Jamie Vardy's shin guards then. pic.twitter.com/J08sGR3PzY
— Daniel Harris (@DanielHarris) October 25, 2020
2 mins: Shot! Leono hits a limp clearance straight to Madison, who tries to lift the ball into the empty net from 40 yards or so, but it floats just wide.
1 min: Peeeeeeep! Leicester get the game started!
The players come out! While we wait for kick-off, here’s Brendan Rodgers on Jamie Vardy:
He’s trained the last couple of days and looked good, so that’s means he’ll be a possibility from the bench. With so many games ahead we didn’t want to take a risk, but I’m sure he’ll play a part.
And here’s Mikel Arteta on Leicester:
I think they are a very complete side, and tricky to deal with, because they are really good on the ball in positional play, but they are really good in transition as well. They can go high press, they can defend really deep as they did against City. I think they’ve come a long way, they’ve improved a lot as a team and it will be really tough tonight.
I’m very much looking forward to this game, but while I waited for Sky’s expensive pay-per-view service to kick in I discovered that Groundhog Day is on Dave and I have a bit of a thing about it, and now I’m going to miss the end. I’m so annoyed I’m going to refuse to make the obvious joke about Leicester’s trips to Arsenal.
Three changes for Arsenal, who bring in David Luiz, Alexandre Lacazette and, for a first league start since moving to the club, Thomas Partey. Two changes for Leicester, who bring in Christian Fuchs and James Maddison and leave out Ayoze Perez and Kelechi Iheanacho. The big news, though, is that Jamie Vardy is back in the squad but not in the starting line-up, restricted as he is to the bench.
The teams!
The team sheets have been handed in, and the key names tonight are these ones:
Arsenal: Leno, Bellerin, Luiz, Gabriel, Tierney, Ceballos, Xhaka, Thomas, Saka, Lacazette, Aubameyang. Subs: Runarsson, Maitland-Niles, Pepe, Mustafi, Elneny, Willock, Nketiah.
Leicester: Schmeichel, Fofana, Evans, Fuchs, Castagne, Tielemans, Mendy, Justin, Praet, Maddison, Barnes. Subs: Morgan, Vardy, Albrighton, Ward, Iheanacho, Under, Choudhury.
Referee: Craig Pawson.
🚨 TIME FOR TEAM NEWS 🚨
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) October 25, 2020
🇬🇭 @ThomasPartey22 makes first home start
🇪🇸 @DaniCeballos46 returns from injury
🇬🇦 @Aubameyang7 back in the starting XI#ARSLEI
🚨 #ArsLei team news 🚨
— Leicester City (@LCFC) October 25, 2020
Brought to you by @eToro 🔵
Hello world!
Leicester haven’t won at Arsenal in any competition since 1973, and most recently lost to them in the Carabao Cup a month (and two days) ago. That strikes me as statistically unlikely. I mean, that is a seriously rubbish record, a history so dismal there is no sensible explanation except witchcraft. Arsenal haven’t lost a home league game in October in 32 matches since 2002, which also smells suspiciously like witchcraft. So though the teams start the game tied on nine points, the Gunners have history and some kind of magical protection charm in their favour.
In addition, the Foxes have lost their last two league matches, at home to West Ham and Aston Villa, which isn’t encouraging, though they did win their last away game at Manchester City, which is. At stake today is a place in the top four, which will be enjoyed by whoever wins the game, if indeed anyone does. Welcome!
Kick-off: 7.15pm GMT
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