Premier League 2019-20: Leicester City vs Arsenal: Match Preview, prediction and predicted lineups
Arguably the biggest game for both the teams before Christmas, Leicester City take on Arsenal at the King Power Stadium tomorrow night. This is game which can be a key decider in who deserves to be in the top four because if Arsenal lose, they'll be 9 points behind the Foxes; a big reason to worry.
On the other hand, if Sheffield United and Bournemouth win their respective games, they’ll easily overtake Arsenal on the table.
Unai Emery's men have been struggling to win and their bad run of games was worsened when they picked up a draw away in Portuguese against Vitoria S.C. on Wednesday after an awful team performance.
Meanwhile, Leicester have been flying under Brendan Rogers, as the former Liverpool manager is hoping to secure European football for his current employers. He has imposed his ideas and philosophy brilliantly at his new club, and the players are absolutely enjoying the freedom they get under his free-flowing attacking system.
Arsenal will be hoping to turn the tables at the King Power, but it would take more than just luck to beat this Leicester side who come into this game with at the back of an easy 2-0 win against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, one of the toughest places to go to in the Premier League.
Unai Emery will have to come up with the ideal formation to beat Leicester's 4-1-4-1, a system which even Jurgen Klopp found difficult to outperform. The Spaniard will likely set up his team up in a defensive 4-4-2 diamond shape, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette up front looking to break on counters.
Judging on current form, Leicester should be able to stroll past Arsenal, as they have won four of their last five Premier League games, whereas Arsenal have only won once in their last five.
The Gunners go into this game as underdogs, and though there is pressure on Arsenal to come up with an impressive performance, the Foxes would not want to lose against Emery's side as Chelsea are right up their neck on the table. Also, if Arsenal win, they’ll be only three points behind Leicester.
The last time Arsenal played Leicester City at the King Power Stadium, the Gunners were defeated 3-0 by Jamie Vardy and co. Arsenal do have the talent to overcome their current woes, but Leicester City might get a win tomorrow.
Predicted line ups:
Leicester City XI: Kasper, Ricardo, Soyuncu, Chilwell, Ndidi, Tielemans, Maddison, Perez, Barnes, Vardy.
Arsenal XI: Leno, Bellerin, Sokratis, Luiz, Kolasinac, Torreira, Guendouzi, Willock, Ozil, Lacazette, Aubameyang.