Premier League 2019-20: 3 reasons why Arsenal lost to Leicester City
After failing to defeat Portuguese side Vitoria SC in their midweek Europa League match, it was another match of frustration for Arsenal today as they slumped to a 2-0 defeat to Leicester City at the King Power Stadium.
Unai Emery made numerous changes from that match in midweek; Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Mesut Ozil, Alexandre Lacazette and Matteo Guendouzi were all restored to the first XI, but it largely made no difference. Arsenal were basically second-best in all areas today, and it came as no surprise when the Foxes finally broke them down.
First Jamie Vardy scored his 11th goal of the season in the 68th minute, finishing off a beautiful move from Harvey Barnes and Youri Tielemans. And then James Maddison sealed the deal seven minutes later.
Here are three reasons why Arsenal lost to Leicester City.
#1 Leicester have been building up a head of steam lately
Before slating Arsenal it’s probably fair to say that they were up against one of the Premier League’s most outstanding sides this evening. Leicester are now up into second place in the league table and have a better goal difference - +21 – than any side other than Manchester City.
Brendan Rodgers has got them playing some phenomenal football, and this game was no exception.
The Foxes simply took the game to Arsenal from the off, and could probably have had a couple of goals in the first half through James Maddison, Ayoze Perez and Harvey Barnes. Perez in particular narrowly failed to capitalize on a real defensive mess from the Gunners when David Luiz missed a loose pass.
When Wilfred Ndidi struck the bar early in the second half it felt for a moment like Leicester would be out of luck. But they kept plugging away and eventually found the net twice, through Vardy and Maddison. Both moves that led to the goals saw Arsenal’s defence carved open.
Leicester are riding a crest of a wave right now; on paper at least they appear to have no weaknesses, and their results on the pitch are beginning to suggest the same thing. If anyone is going to make the Premier League title race a three-horse one, it appears to be them.
Arsenal’s profile may be bigger, but they can have few complaints in losing to this side.