Premier League Review: Thoughts from Arsenal vs Leicester City

The last two months have felt like an eternity, as
they seem to do after every season...but finally
the Premier League is back in action, and is
kicking off on Friday night with Arsenal taking on
Leicester, both teams of course wanting to get off
to the best possible start.
It's a big year for Arsene Wenger who has signed
a new two-year contract earlier this summer, and
after last season's antics of 'Wenger Out'
Champions League qualification is a must after
narrowly missing out to Liverpool.
Arsenal have to come out the blocks quickly this
season, and the boss has shown clear intentions
during pre-season by winning the Emirates Cup
and Community Shield. The Gunners will
therefore go into the game in a confident mood
even if there are a number of injury doubts for
the clash.
Craig Shakespeare will also need to get off to a
good start to cement his managerial place after
last season's sacking of title winning manager
Claudio Ranieri. The Foxes have done well in pre-
season beating Borussia Mönchengladbach of
particular note and they will want to continue in
the same vein on Friday.

Classic Encounters
Last season Arsenal had the upper hand over
Leicester in their two matches, at the King Power
the tie resulted in a draw and at the Emirates
Arsenal won 1-0.
One only has to go back to Leicester's title
winning season in 2015/16 to find an enticing
encounter between the two sides. Although
Leicester amazingly managed to defy all odds and
win the league they did not manage to beat
Arsenal home or away.
The first encounter of the season was a high
scoring 5-2 victory for Arsenal. Alexis Sanchez
completed his hat-trick whilst Jamie Vardy scored
a brace, both continuing their fine form. This
victory put the Gunners in 4th position and
Leicester in 6th, no one was to know that the
relegation favourites would triumph later in the
season.
The second encounter was a grueling game which
saw Danny Simpson sent off and a Danny
Welbeck header in the 90th minute which looked
to ruin Leicester's chances of winning the league.
This was only Leicester City's second defeat in
their last 17 Premier League away games.

Team News
Arsenal
Alexis Sanchez will miss the next two league
matches with an abdominal strain while Aaron
Ramsey, Mesut Özil and Per Mertesacker are all
injury doubts for this tie. Mertesacker looks the
most likely to start, but Mohamed Elneny is set to
replace Ramsey and Welbeck likewise instead of
Özil.
Francis Coquelin, Gabriel and Shkodran Mustafi
are definite absentees because of injuries. New
signings Alexandre Lacazette and Sead Kolasinac
are expected to feature in the starting eleven for
their Premier League debuts.
Laurent Koscielny is unavailable after receiving a
red card and a three-match ban for a ridiculous
foul on Enner Valencia in Arsenal’s final league
match against Everton, ruling him out of the FA
Cup final as well as the first two league matches
of the new season.

Leicester
For this match Leicester boss Craig Shakespeare
could opt for a more defensive looking five-man
midfield consisting of Marc Albrighton, Andy King,
Wilfred Ndidi, Matty James and Demarai Gray.
James is set to take Danny Drinkwater's place
who is unlikely to be fit due to a thigh strain,
while King will replace the crocked summer
signing Vicente Iborra.

Shakespeare was hoping that new signing Kelechi
Iheanacho would be in contention for a starting
spot, however this seems doubtful after picking up
a knock on his debut for the Foxes, the Nigerian
will probably start on the bench.
Islam Slimani has a knee problem which has
hampered his preparations for this match up and
therefore Jamie Vardy looks to start as a lone
striker.
Another new signing Harry Maguire also looks to
start with Robert Huth's ankle injury keeping him
out of the frame for the first few games.

Key Man
Arsenal have needed a world class striker for at
least four seasons now and finally they have their
hands on clinical finisher Alexandre Lacazette.
Although the Frenchman has only successfully
played in Ligue 1 and the Europa League, if he
can give Arsenal a cutting edge with his goals they
will be a tough outlet to beat. The Gunners
certainly need his form from his past seasons if
they want to win this one.

The £52.7m signing looks to start versus Leicester
after showing promise in the Community Shield.
The Frenchman was unlucky not to score, hitting
the post from a long range curling effort. All
football spectators are excited to see what
Arsenal's record signing is capable of and will be
key to gaining Arsenal three points.

Predicted Lineups
Potential Arsenal Starting Lineup (3-4-3): Cech,
Holding, Mertesacker, Monreal, Bellerin,
Kolašinac, Xhaka, Elneny, Iwobi, Welbeck,
Lacazette.
Potential Leicester Starting Lineup (4-5-1):
Schmeichel, Simpson, Maguire, Morgan, Fuchs,
Albrighton, King, James, Ndidi, Mahrez, Vardy.

Prediction
Arsenal have won each of their last 10 Premier
League home encounters with Leicester City, their
joint longest winning streak at home against a
single opponent, and by looking at the two
potential lineups Arsenal by far look the
strongest.
The Gunners have won only one of their last
seven opening day Premier League fixtures, losing
three of the last four (W1 D3 L3). Arsene Wenger
will be looking to rectify this record with a win on
Friday - but it's not the safest bet given this
record...
Alexandre Lacazette scored 91 goals in the French
Ligue 1 over the last four seasons more than any
other player in the competition in that period and
if that form continues he is bound to set the
Premier League alight and contribute to a victory
for Arsenal on Friday.
Although Arsenal are notoriously bad on the
opening day of the season it looks that they will
win the encounter. Even with injuries the squad
is far superior than Leicester's and they look the
favourites for a win.
Prediction: Arsenal 3 Leicester 1