Righto, that’s that on that – stick with us for the rest of the afternoon’s football. Thanks all for your company and comments, sorry I didn’t get to use them all. Ta-ra and enjoy the rest of the weekend.
Here’s Barney Ronay’s match report.
Meanwhile:
Back to LeBron, it really is horrendous that he should have to justify his credentials to fight the self-evident oppression and injustice of his people. But here he is.
Brendan Rodgers says it’s a disappointing result and his team looked tired, but it’s only one game. They knew Arsenal would have more of the ball - why? – but didn’t take the ball enough. He says Arsenal got a bit of luck with how the ball dropped for their third goal and credits his players for the way they kept going; I wonder if he really thinks that, because there was no conviction in their work. He’s then asked what he’d change about today; “Probably the score.”
Indeed.
We were talking about sportsmen taking the knee earlier; this is worth reading on the frankly awful nonsense Zlatan Ibrahimovic spoke about LeBron James.
While, in the WSL, Arsenal are drawing 0-0 at Villa. You can follow that one here:
Meanwhile, early goals from Gareth Bale – turns out he’s quite good at football, who knew? – and Hazza Kane have put Spurs 2-0 up on Burnley. Follow that one here:
Elsewhere, Palace and Fulham have drawn 0-0.
Arteta is “really proud” of his players, and the “character and personality” they showed, especially when Leicester got the game they wanted: an early goal that allowed them to sit back. He says he didn’t have to rotate but he wanted to give a chance to the players who hadn’t played midweek because they deserved it. He reckons his senior players “need to drive the boat”, not the young players, and says Smith Rowe has a muscular injury but doesn’t think it’s anything too serious.
Lacazette says Arsenal need some consecutive wins to get up the table and is particularly pleased with how the team reacted to going behind. He thinks it’s important that the senior players play well and don’t rely on the kids to do all the work. The win over Benfica was good for the spirit, and they now need to carry on.
What’s worrying for Leicester isn’t even today’s result, but its cost. Evans’ injury didn’t look too bad, but Barnes might be absent for a while and already know Justin is done for the season. We don’t yet know when Maddison will be back, though Fofana and Praet aren’t far away which is something.
That’s Leicester’s sixth home defeat of the season, and they not only stay third but hand Chelsea a chance to close the gap and Man United a free hit at extending it. Arsenal, meanwhile, move up from 12th to ninth but more than that, drive home their midweek escape and will be feeling pretty good about life all of a sudden.
Full-time: Leicester City 1-3 Arsenal
That’s a very good win for Arsenal, who responded well to going behind despite lacking their best players. Leicester, though, were a study in abjectivity.
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90+6 min Leicester win a corner down the left and Albrighton’s delivery is a good one, Soyuncu knocking down for Iheanacho, past the back post. This is a really good chance because he’s got loads of net at which to aim, but as he opens his body his head goes up and the ball goes well over. Eesh.
90+6 min Now it’s Albrighton sending a decent ball into the box and Iheanacho peels away at the back post, but Xhaka, who’s been solid today, blocks well.
90+4 min Castagne lays back for Under, who bends a very nice ball into the box, but Vardy was on his heels. That tells you everything you need to know about this Leicester performance.
90+4 min Tierney trips Vardy and is booked.
90+3 min Leicester have offered near enough nowt this half and Arsenal look more likely to score a fourth than they do a second; Partey again finds himself with a shooting opportunity, but Schmeichel collects.
90+2 min Aubameyang wriggles to the line and dinks a cross, but Schmeichel collects easily at the near post.
90 min There’ll be seven additional minutes.
90 min Tierney chases after a bouncing ball and gets to it before Under, nodding away; he goes down clutching his forehead, but there didn’t appear to be any contact.
90 min Keown gives Willian man of the match, with is fair enough – though I’d have gone for Pepe.
88 min Soyuncu leaps with Pepe, introducing knee to thigh right in the sweet spot. It looks a a right sair yin and Pepe goes down, but he’ll be reet.
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87 min Partey carries it forward – his ability to run with the ball is so helpful, and he’s so much more than a holding midfielder – before finding Aubameyang, who shifts it inside onto his right foot and belts a low finish just past the far post.
85 min “A lot of players rolled up their shorts during 2018 World Cup,” says Ruth Purdue. “Alexis was one I personally remember, as well as Cristiano for that free kick.”
It reminds me of my school days, when the thing was pulling one’s boxer shorts at the bottom of one’s football shorts. I think that’s what they were aping.
84 min Since Arsenal equalised, Leicester haven’t even hinted at doing something about it. They look tired, and given their increasing injury-list, those not on it aren’t getting much rest.
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84 min Arteta sends on Aubameyang for Lacazette.
83 min Words they never thought they’d type: Willian and Pepe have both been pretty good today.
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82 min He curls towards the near post, Amartey arriving first to stick the ball behind, so he’ll have another go; this time he goes for the far, Schmeichel pawing away ... but straight to Tierney, who cuts across a very nifty-looking shot which zooms only just wide.
81 min Partey finds himself outside the box with time and space, so tries a shot which loops up off the nearest shins and behind for a corner. Odegaard will take it...
80 min Oh dear. Ricardo finds himself in a decent position outside the box and arcs a decent cross towards the far post, except none of his mates are anywhere near it and the ball drifts harmlessly behind.
79 min Under attacks Xhaka down the right, but Xhaka is strong and Arsenal bring it away, Pepe nicking a pass into Cedric, turning up inside the box. But instead of looking to shoot he tries to put studs on top of ball and misses it entirely.
77 min Hector Bellerin tucks his shirt in, advises Magnus Evander, while Ian Copestake wonders if he’s been left out today because handsomeness alone does not win football matches.
75 min Xhaka is caught by Iheanacho’s stray forearm and is extremely upset.
74 min Tielemans is booked for something we didn’t see.
73 min Arsenal have been good today, the more aggressive and confident side. And they’re keeping it well now too – they know it’s over and so do Leicester.
71 min Vardy shifts it inside and opens a shooting lane, walloping a curler that clobbers Mari on the heed. Leicester’s goal aside, he’s played pretty well today.
71 min “Just to say, that magnificent Spurs team of the 80s were also lawless in the fashion,” says Rosin Morris. “It wasn’t just an untucked Hoddle but there was an oft-unrolled and apparently out of breath Tony Galvin bombing up and down the wing...”
I well remember – my dad was a big fan of him on account of his
wingplay
left-wing politics.
70 min Leicester send on Amartey for Evans, who looks to have hurt his leg. This is turning into an absolutely horrific afternoon for them.
68 min Back to the shirts/shorts interface, here’s Ireland in 1994.
67 min This Leicester performance absolutely reeks of a “post-match clear-the-air team-meeting in which harsh words were exchanged”.
66 min Just what Leicester wanted to see: Elneny is replaced by Partey, who’s feeling his way back after injury.
65 min Iheanacho curves a decent pass in behind for Vardy to chase, but Mari does well to stay with him and come away with the ball.
64 min A lull in play. Take advantage by signing up for daily hilarity, or failing that, daily not hilarity.
63 min But here come Leicester, Iheanacho leaping to flick around Luiz while turning; that’s nice, but Luiz reacts well, treading on the ball to take it away, and Elneny steps in to smother, winning a goalkick in the process.
62 min Leicester move it about as Arsenal invite them on, but without much conviction. I wonder if they need to have a think about the way they play, because although Vardy is brilliant on the counter, he doesn’t look fit and they need to take control of games.
60 min “It used to be that you were risking a booking if you didn’t tuck your shirt in - as page 11 of this riveting FIFA document makes a tidy appearance something that has to be reffed,” emails Paul McGrory. “I remember Jack Charlton getting exercised about this at the 1994 World Cup as several pasty Irishmen were at death’s door in the heat of the American summer.”
Yes, I think the same applied to rolled-down socks.
58 min “Speaking of shirts tucked in and that picture of Glenn Hoddle,” says Kristof Künssler-McIlwain, “when exactly did shorts get so much longer. You can’t really call them shorts any longer. I’m not trying to objectify my players, but look at them thighs.”
Glenn had tremendous pins, and I’d say the change came in the first season of the Premier League.
But not for all clubs.
57 min This is shaping up to be a key week in Arsenal’s season. The win in Benfica kept it alive, and a win here, without Saka and Aubameyang, will give them all sorts of confidence.
55 min Leicester win a corner down the left and Luiz is up high to head clear, hurting himself on the way down. I thought it was the way he landed, but seems to have taken a bash to the eye; he’ll be ok.
54 min These have been a dreadful few minutes for Leicester. It’s not at all easy to see how they come back from this, and it’s all come about because they sat back after being handed the lead.
GOAL! Leicester City 1-3 Arsenal (Pepe 52)
Xhaka wins the ball and sets Pepe away, who moves it onto Odegaard. Just as it looks like the attack is breaking down, he finds a terrific poked pass between defenders that I think might be for Lacazette. But Willian, who’s been good today, collects, and finds a route across the face of goal through Tielemans’ legs, allowing Pepe to tuck in from under the bar! Well!
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52 min Leicester’s injury-list is increasing at the worst possible time. Under goes to the right, with Albrighton moving to the left.
51 min Cengiz Under comes on, and Willian flips over another decent ball, but Mari can’t impart the necessary power to get a header on target.
49 min Oh dear. Barnes has an inflatable cast around his leg and is levered onto a stretcher. He doesn’t look in terrible pain, but he’s in trouble and carried off with hands over eyes. Godspeed, old mate.
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47 min Immediately, Leicester are pressing high up the pitch and with renewed zest but then Barnes stretches to collect a ball and his ankle seems to give way. I hate to say it, but I think that’ll be his afternoon done; in the meantime, Arsenal win a corner.
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46 min Brendan Rodgers withdraws Luke Thomas, who was a red card waiting to happen, replacing him with Albrighton. He’ll go into midfield, with Ricardo going to right-back and Castagne going to left-back – I imagine.
46 min We go again.
“Do any Premier League regulars aside from Kieren Tierney tuck in their shirt?” wonders Nick White. “Strange that such a small thing is so distinctive.”
I’m not sure, but when I were a lad the reverse was so; Glenn Hoddle was famous for wearing his outside his shorts because he was an outlier.
Half-time emails: “I’m all in favour of protecting players and minimising the real risk of serious head injury,” says David Sweet. “But it seems to me that this incident raises difficult questions. Arsenal had a real chance (though admittedly, the shot would probably have gone high above the goal) and it was thwarted by a collision between two Leicester players.
In that situation, Evans was on his own, out of the way, and it would not have done any damage to at least allow Tierney to take the shot before stopping the attack. If that kind of thing doesn’t happen, we will see ‘accidental’ collisions between players in the same team whenever a dangerous situation looks like arising. These are professionals, remember, which means there is NOTHING they will not do if the risks seem worth the reward.”
I don’t think it matters that the collision was between to Leicester players, though it did seem clear that it was nothing significant. However, if I’m the ref I’m erring on the side of caution every time because I’m responsible for someone’s safety above all else.
Half-time: Leicester City 1-2 Arsenal
After quite a lot of nothing that suddenly got good, and Brendan Rodgers has work to do.
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45+3 min I did not see this coming, but Leicester asked for it, taking the lead and sitting back. Arsenal have played with far greater intensity, so deserve their lead.
GOAL! Leicester City 1-2 Arsenal (Lacazette pen, 45+2)
Lacazette cleanses into the left side-netting, with Schmeichel diving the other way. Excellent penalty.
Updated
45+1 min PENALTY TO ARSENAL!
The ref takes one look at the footage and points to the spot. Ndidi was only just inside the box, but his hands were right up there and I’ve no idea why.
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45 min Arsenal sweep forward and Pepe dips inside – of course he does – then unfurls a curler looking for the far post ... and Ndidi blocks it with his hands! Play continues, but I’d expect that to be a penalty once VAR has had a look.
44 min “I was preparing to write an Arsenal: What Can You Say message?” returns Charles Antaki. “But really, what can you say?”
I actually think they’ve done alright so far, whereas Leicester have been extremely disappointing. This is a great time to play Arsenal, who the gifted them a goal, but they’ve been so passive.
42 min Odegaard replaces Smith Rowe; that’s a problem for Arsenal because the latter sets their tempo. But the former offers a little more craft, so might have more luck picking holes in Leicester’s defence.
40 min Smith Rowe goes down injured so Arteta takes the opportunity to roust Pepe, presumably telling him to go at Thomas every chance he gets.
GOAL! Leicester City 1-1 Arsenal (David Luiz 39)
Yes they can! Willian flips a decent ball into the box, and Luiz moves away from Castagne who realises what’s happening too late, stooping to flick-glance a fine header across Schmeichel and into the far corner.
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38 min Nice from Lacazette, who strikes across a pass that he sends out right to Pepe; Pepe shimmies inside then nips outside Thomas, who ploughs straight down the middle and is booked. Can Arsenal finally find a decent delivery?
36 min Nice from Pepe, who gets to a ball dropping out of the sky before Soyuncu, a deft touch taking it away from the defender, who commits to the foul. Again, though, Arsenal’s delivery into the box is poor and Mari does well to stop Vardy punishing them on the counter.
36 min In the meantime, Iheanacho wallops a shot from distance that Leno saves easily enough.
35 min This has been a pretty sedate affair. Whether that changes will probably be dictated by whether Arteta brings on his best players.
33 min “Re direct fee kicks inside the box,” says Gary Naylor, “you really want to see those given six yards out for a push or pull at a corner? In the pro game, it would be worth the risk - easy to defend with 11 men so close to the ball. And good luck refereeing that melee on Hackney Marshes next season.”
I don’t want to see a penalty given for those either, and I want defenders to be able to tackle. So yeah, on balance, I think that is better than the current situation.
31 min Now it’s Willian’s turn to overhit a cross, Luiz taking his corner down well beyond the back post and forcing another. Willian treks over to the other side to take it, and Evans gets a whack on the bonce from Tielemans, so the ref stops the game with Tierney preparing to shoot.
29 min Thomas fouls Cedric down the Arsenal right, but Pepe overhits the free-kick. Arsenal, though, keep Leicester pinned back, and Tierney opts to shoot from distance, the ball skipping off Tielemans’ knee and flying behind.
27 min Better from Arsenal, Smith Rowe setting a motion a succession of quick passes that ends with Xhaka feeding Willian, who shifts it and drills a decent shot just wide of the far post.
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23 min “For those of us without subscription channels it’s Fulham vs Palace on the BBC,” emails David Wall. “Although he’s not playing today, I was wondering what people thought of Wilfred Zaha’s recent comments about taking a knee before kick-off becoming nothing more than a symbolic gesture. I worry that he might be right. After all, it’s not really led to any significant action to address racial inequalities in football and it’s been many months since it started. Raheem Sterling said on Newsnight soon after football restarted last year that the key issue was less about particular incidents of racial abuse (abhorrent as they are) but more about addressing the lack of diversity in boardrooms, management, and senior coaching roles. And especially so as that contrasted so much with the diversity you see among the players. That is something that could start to be addressed with a stroke of the pen by the Premier League, FA, and Football League by introducing mandatory diversity targets as conditions on taking part in their competitions. They can do that with things like stadium regulations so could easily do something similar with diversity requirements. Even if member clubs had to vote on proposals then, provided votes were public, which clubs would dare object? Yet aside from a mentoring programme little has changed. And while it’s old white guys doing the hiring then they’ll continue to choose predominantly middle age white guys for the key jobs. So while I’m not sure I agree that there is no point continuing taking a knee, Zaha has certainly got a point about it’s effectiveness so far.”
I think the first thing to say is that as a white man, I have no right to have any opinion on Wilfried Zaha’s opinion. I think it’s fair to say that the knee is only a start and a very small one because as Raheem Sterling says, we need to change a racist system, which is a monumental but essential task. Ibram X. Kendi’s book How To Be An Antiracist is brilliant on this and many other points – I implore everyone wondering how they can help to read it.
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21 min Barnes has been silent so far but here he is now, coming in off the left and across the face of the box lamping an early wobbler that Leno has to fist away. That’s decent keeping because a less definitive bash and the ball might drop to a forward instead of flying to safety.
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21 min Nice from Leicester, Iheanacho dropping off and collecting a pass on the burst, looking to loft a ball for Vardy, loitering around the back post, but sticking just too much on it.
19 min Ultimately Arsenal don’t have much without Saka. It’s absolutely astonishing how good he is and in how many positions.
18 min Leicester are sitting deeper now, the position of Ricardo and Barnes inviting Arsenal onto them. But that allows Willian to step infield and he flicks a decent ball outside Castagne for Tierney, whose cross goes behind.
16 min I don’t think there’ll be any argument that VAR got that call right, but it’s not argument for it: what we really need is an adjustment to the law, so that you only get a penalty if a goalscoring opportunity is denied, inside or outside the box. Otherwise it’s a direct free-kick.
15 min Pepe swings the ball in, and it’s headed behind for a corner which comes to nothing.
14 min NO PENALTY TO ARSENAL!
Yup, the contact was outside, so Arsenal have a free-kick on the edge, right-hand side.
13 min I think the contact was made by Ndidi, just outside the box, though the fall was inside...
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12 min PENALTY TO ARSENAL!
Lacazette opens his body and lays off pleasantly to Pepe, who slaloms inside a tiny gap between Ndidi and Tielemans then falls over. The ref quickly points to the spot, but let’s see what VAR says....
12 min We’re back with Arsenal dominating the ball without looking like breaking through, but...
10 min I’m not sure who in the Arsenal side has the ability or personality to raise it. If Leicester play sensibly, they’ll win this by a few, I reckon.
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8 min Arsenal had started this match in reasonable fashion, but as Keown notes that they’ve lost five of six games post-Europe. I also think I read that they’ve only come from behind to win once so far this season.
Updated
GOAL! Leicester City 1-0 Arsenal (Tielemans 6)
Tielemans robs Xhaka out on the right, close to halfway, and sets off towards the box with Xhaka huffing in hi wake. And when no one comes to him – Mari opts to back off and stay with Vardy, while Elneny does nothing – he simply eases into a shooting position and despatches a low shot across Leno and into the corner. That is absolutely shambolic behaviour from Arsenal.
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6 min Leicester are livening up now, starting to harry and chase, and...
4 min More like it from Arsenal, Smith Rowe and Lacazette buzzing about as Leicester seek to play out and eventually forcing Evans to go long and into touch. The away side have started the better, though neither has done loads.
3 min Leicester are mainly sitting off when Arsenal have the ball; Arsenal are pressing a little more, but without the intensity that characterises them when they’re at their best.
2 min Cedric turns up close to the Leicester box and tries a cross, but Evans is there to clear. For now at least, Pepe is out on his preferred right flank, with Willian on the left.
1 min For those watching in black and white, Leicester are in blue so Arsenal have changed from their usual red to white.
1 min Away we go!
The players take a knee. All black lives matter; we’ve got a lot of work to do.
Martin Keown is surprised by how many changes Arteta has made. I’m surprised he’s surprised.
Here come the players!
Tangentially, I absolutely loved this.
#AFamilyThing👨👩👧👧 EP 05 HALE END edition! 😎 @BukayoSaka87, @EddieNketiah9 & @emilesmithrowe ❤️️ @adidasfootball pic.twitter.com/RYmZd9Be4b
— Ian Wright (@IanWright0) January 29, 2021
There’s a lot riding on Emile Smith Rowe today, whose prompting and pressing look Arsenal’s most likely route to a goal. I read a piece recently in which someone who coached him said he wasn’t one they thought would get to where he now is, which restates the importance of mentality and desire.
Apparently Briggs made 2348 appearances on the cobbles, which makes Ryan Giggs - with a mere 963 – look like a right slacker.
Sad news: Johnny Briggs, the actor who played Mike Baldwin in Corrie and whose feud with Ken captivated the nation to such extent that it’s result was displayed mid-match on the Old Trafford scoreboard, has gone to the big Rovers Return in the sky.
Areteta tells BT he doesn’t even want to look at the league table because of how badly Arsenal are doing. He’s left out players because some have muscular issues, they only arrived in Leicester on Friday night, and he has players who deserve a chance. He notes that Leicester sometimes look to push the pace and other times sit deep to counter, so has prepared for both eventualities. Which is all very well, but it’s hard to see how his midfield can dominate here.
It really is remarkable that Leicester can be without players as good as Maddison, Fofana, Perez, Justin and Praet, but still put out an XI as good as this. They might well be the best-run club in world football.
As on Thursday night, Leicester will have to cope without James Maddison. Can he still give the post-match interview though?
🗣 "We looked at Chelsea and we knew they switch off sometimes from set pieces."
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) January 19, 2021
🗣 "@Carra23 said he needs to get his numbers up if he wants to be a top player."
James Maddison speaks to Sky Sports about Leicester's win that sends them top of the Premier League. pic.twitter.com/yYjV31xHX5
We’ve just seen tape of Brandan telling Robbie Savage that at 48, he’s coming into his prime as a coach – a happy chance! – and notes that development is generally associated with young players, but he’s just as focused on his older players. I really enjoy hearing him talk football and find his refusal to play down his own role in things refreshing, but he could really use a trophy. He says a successful season would be European football –at this point, I’m not so sure about that, given they’ve been in the top four for the duration and botched it a year ago – and is also desperate to win the cup.
BT reckon Leicester will play Iheanacho behind Vardy, which sounds slightly odd; like Vardy, he’s a finisher not a prompter, but you can’t legislate for Brendan’s transformative genius.
Email! “I thought I knew what ‘enervating’ meant, but I looked it up anyway,” confesses Charles Antaki. “Causing [a person] to feel drained of energy, fatigued”. Fair enough metaphorically about Leicester’s home loss to Slavia Prague, but surely a better, literal, description not only of Arsenal’s flight to Athens but of the numbing stodge that they tend to deliver on the field of play?”
One man’s enervation is another man’s innovation, as the old saying goes.
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It looks a lot like Mikel Arteta has picked a team to nick something, if possible. Saka is his best player and Aubameyang his most likely scorer, but neither start; though Willian was better when he came on against Benfica, he’s been largely dreadful this season; and Pepe is Pepe.
Arsenal, meanwhile, make six changes. At the back, Cedric Soares and Pablo Mari replace Hecto Bellerin and Gabriel; in midfield, Elneny is in for Dani Ceballos; and in attack, Saka, Martin Odegaard and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang sit at the side, with Willian, Nicolas Pepe and Alexandre Lacazette replacing them.
I’m fairly surprised to see Leicester line up in 4-4-2, but it makes a lot of sense. Arsenal are strong out wide, so sticking two men on each flank will help combat that, and impetuous at the back, so two strikers might exacerbate that. Having just two in the middle of midfield could allow Arsenal to dominate in that area, but with two limited sitters in Mohamen Elneny and Granit Xhaka, that seems unlikely.
Brendan Rodgers makes four changes following that midweek disappointment: Timothy Casatagne replaces Daniel Amartey at right-back; Ricardo Pererira is in at right-midfield for Cengiz Under; on the left, Harvey Barnes resumes with Marc Albrighton takes a rest; and up front, Kelechi Iheanacho comes in with Hamza Choudhury dropping out of midfield.
Teams!
Leicester City (a sophisticate’s 4-4-2): Schmeichel; Castagne, Soyuncu, Evans, Thomas; Pereira, Ndidi, Tielemans, Barnes; Iheanacho, Vardy. Subs: Ward, Albrighton, Amartey, Under, Choudhury, Mendy, Fuchs, Daley-Campbell, Tavares.
Arsenal (a circumspect 4-2-3-1): Leno; Soares, Mari, Luiz, Tierney; Elneny, Xhaka; Willian, Smith Rowe, Pepe; Lacazette. Subs: Ryan, Bellerin, Saka, Ceballos, Odegaard, Aubameyang, Holding, Partey, Martinelli.
Song and dance man: Paul Tierney (Wigan)
Preamble
There’s loads of things to love about this game but foremost among them is the tussle between two classic footballing platitudes: “This game’s all about confidence and momentum, Clive,” versus “It takes half an hour just to run the travel out of your legs, Brian.” It’s the unstoppable cliche meets the immovable truism.
Leicester come into this match on the back of a significant disappointment. They’ll have fancied themselves for a proper hack at this season’s Europa League – rightly so – and after drawing 0-0 away to Slavia Prague looked in good shape to make that happen. But they then contrived a 0-2 home defeat that will have felt extremely enervating, reminding them of the mess they made of last season’s run-in; as such, they come into this match under pressure.
Arsenal, on the other hand, arrive at the KP on a right buzz. Just when it looked like they’d arsenaled up their Europa tie against Benfica, the inspirational Bukayo Saka inspired them to victory – again – defibrillating their season in the process. But for this, they had to hike to Athens, leaving scope for a significant physical and emotional dump before we even consider the earliness of the start – on top of which Leicester need the points far more than they do.
Given all that, it’s hard to predict what might happen here. Leicester will look to start quickly – but their counter-attacking preference means they’re reliant on their opponents to commit – while Arsenal will probably rest players – but retain their own threat on the break.
Ultimately, a home win looks the most likely outcome, but the longer Arsenal can keep the game goalless the more Leicester will start to wonder.
Kick-off: 12pm GMT
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