Arsenal vs Leicester City - 3 key points for the Gunners ahead of the Monday night game
Arsenal face Leicester City away at the King Power Stadium in a Monday night Premier League clash. Arsenal are on a fine run with 9 consecutive wins while Leicester are always a dangerous side to play. Here are 3 aspects of the game to watch out for-
Keeping the run going
Arsenal lost their first two games of the season but following a much improved two months since, sit just 5 points off the top and 3 behind Chelsea in 3rd place. This puts into perspective the massive improvement that the side have experienced following a difficult start to the season. Arsenal have a few more comparatively easier games before a clash with Liverpool and games against Spurs and United later in the month of November.
The Gunners need to maximize their wins against lesser placed sides so that they have a strong claim to finish in the top 4 again. Continuing this rich vein of form might provide an extra edge to the side in terms of confidence in games against top 6 sides, against whom Arsenal have struggled in recent years.
Defensive Improvement
Arsenal's luck has been much talked about despite their winning form. Two months into the season, the defence still isn't entirely convincing despite gradual improvement. Bernd Leno has looked good in goal but injury to Sokratis means that Holding and Mustafi are most likely to start in defence.
A majority of Arsenal fans would like to see a pairing between Sokratis and Holding but with the current injury situation, they will have to settle for the same defense against Fulham. The duo face a difficult task of handling Jamie Vardy's pace and intelligent running but it should be a good test before they face other dangerous sides.
Team Selection
Arsenal's win at Fulham was their best performance of the season. Fulham were terrible defensively but Arsenal's attack looked balanced and in sync at all times. This was also largely due to natural wide players like Iwobi and Mkhitaryan starting in place of Aubameyang and Ramsey.
It will be interesting to see if Emery opts for a similar side or continues to try and fit as many quality players into the starting 11 as possible. Based on form, Iwobi makes a really strong claim to be starting games as the Nigerian has been excellent.
However, Aubameyang and Lacazette are scoring regularly as well and it seems a waste to leave them out of the side. With 3 games in 7 days, rotation will be required as well so the team selection could offer a few surprises.