Preview: Leicester vs Arsenal
Venue
Leicester plays at home for the second time in the Premier League this season in the King Power stadium. The stadium has a capacity of about 32,000 and the fans will be firmly behind the 2013-14 Championship winners.
Kickoff time
The match is scheduled to kick off at 20:30 IST on a Sunday which would make it a 16:00 kick off BST. The match is scheduled to be telecasted on Star Sports 1(in India).
Possible Starting lineups
In team news, Arsenal has Theo Walcott, Mikel Arteta, David Ospina and Kieran Gibbs injured along with long term absentee Oliver Giroud. Aaron Ramsey will return after missing the mid week fixture against Besiktas due to a red card he had picked up in the previous leg. As seen against Everton, Alexis Sanchez is likely to get the nod ahead of Joel Campbell and Yaya Sanogo. Arsenal is likely to play one striker with a 5 man midfield and 4 at the back.
The predicted line up for Arsneal is: Szcznesy, Debuchy, Mertersacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Flamini, Wilshere, Cazorla, Ozil, Ramsey, and Sanchez.
Nigel Pearson and his medical staff will take a late call on the fitness of Jamie Vardy, Danny Drinkwater and Matthew James. Former Inter Milan midfielder Esteban Cambiasso was registered in time to play against Arsenal; he might come off the bench and make his debut for Leicester. Leicester is likely to go ahead with a 4-4-2 formation with new signing Ulloa and Nugent as strike partners.
The predicted line up for Leicester is: Schmiechel, De Laet, Morgan, Moore, Kochesky, Mahrez, Drinkwater, King, Knockaert, Nugent, and Ulloa.
Key facts and Stats
Alexis Sanchez would be expected to start up front again against Leicester just like he did against Everton as well as Besiktas. Arsenal was not too impressive in their display against Everton last week; Everton enjoyed more clear-cut opportunities and simply steam rolled them in the first-half. Nevertheless, Arsenal did show resilience in the last ten minutes of the match by scoring two late goals and stealing a point.
Leicester is currently 16th on the table with a solitary point from the first two matches. In spite of the league standing they shown promise in their performances by coming back twice against Everton to gain a point with a 2-2 draw. Against Chelsea they were good in the first half and should have been 1-0 up at 55 minutes when David Nugent had a one on one versus Courtois, where the latter was the winner. After that Mourinho’s team did what they do best- they grinded out the result-eventually running out as 3-1 winners.
Nigel Pearson’s team has had tough fixtures in the opening few weeks of the Premier League and were certainly not helped by a poor display in the Capital One Cup 2nd round in which they lost to Shrewsbury, a team in League two.
Arsenal is unbeaten in the last 8 visits to the King Power Stadium. The last time Leicester and Arsenal played against each other was on 15th May, 2004. Arsenal emerged as 2-1 winners on the day that completed their “Invincibles” Season.
Key Battles
Sanchez v/s Moore
Arsenal’s marquee signing opened his scoring in the tense Champions League qualifying match against Besiktas. He would look to make the same impact. He should be handful for the Leicester defense as he is fast, tricky, strong and can finish well; he likes to drift on to the right hand side and Moore should keep it in mind to mark him closely.
Ramsey v/s Drinkwater
Danny Drinkwater is a former Manchester United academy player, he is known for his passing from deep-lying positions. He must try and mark Aaron Ramsey who has been in fantastic form since the beginning of last season. Drinkwater must be aware of the clever runs that Ramsey usually makes into the box.
Ulloa v/s Mertesacker
Ulloa is strong as an ox, he is very important to the way Leicester play justifying his club record signing of 8 million pounds. Mertesacker must be aware of his aerial ability and his link up play. Leicester use him to relieve pressure of their team. Mertesacker must step in and ensure Ulloa doesn’t have too much of an impact on the game.
Prediction
Leicester has shown heart in their previous performances in the premier league but the Arsenal team is simply too experienced to not see this one out. Arsenal is a clear favourite to win this contest but a lively performance by Leicester could make it an interesting match. Arsenal should be easy 3-1 winners with Aaron Ramsey to get the first goal.
Match officials
Anthony Taylor has been selected the referee for match with Gary Beswick and Darren Cann as his assistants. Roger East is the fourth official for the day.