Leicestervs.Arsenal

The Gunners have not been in action since being slain by Newcastle United in the EFL Cup semi-finals, whereas the Foxes were controversially beaten by Manchester United in the FA Cup last Friday.

Match preview

Mikel Arteta's Arsenal could have been forgiven for wanting to jump on the plane to the Middle East straight after their 5-1 mauling of Manchester City, and judging by their pitiful performance against Newcastle in the second leg of their EFL Cup semi-final, their heads were already in Dubai when they travelled to St James' Park.

Rather than carry the momentum forward from their crushing of the champions, Arteta's men did not lay a glove on Alexander Isak's Newcastle, who unsettled William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes and David Raya in a way Gooners have not ever been accustomed to seeing.

Now only fighting for Premier League and Champions League glory between now and the spring, Arsenal would normally be heading home from their customary mid-season break with a spring in their step, but news of a season-ending hamstring injury to Kai Havertz has extinguished any fleeting optimism.

The board's refusal to sanction a short or indeed long-term attacking signing in January has well and truly backfired in the most astonishing way, and even though Liverpool were denied victory in Wednesday's Merseyside derby with Everton in remarkable circumstances, the Gunners now find themselves seven points worse off on the same number of matches.

Nevertheless, Arteta's men have a wonderful unbeaten top-flight record to fall back on, avoiding defeat in each of their last 14 games in the Premier League; not since the Arsene Wenger days of 2010-11 have they had a longer sequence without losing in the first division.

Making an incredibly swift return to the Old Trafford dugouts - albeit sitting in the unfamiliar away dugout this time - Leicester boss Ruud van Nistelrooy coined the new footballing phrase 'offside time' to rival the age-old 'Fergie time' as his side were unfairly dumped out of the FA Cup last Friday.

With extra time looming after strikes from Bobby Decordova-Reid and Joshua Zirkzee, former Foxes centre-back Harry Maguire peeled away from his marker to nod in a last-gasp free kick, although replays clearly showed the £80m man in an offside position.

However, with no VAR in operation, the linesman's mistake was final and Leicester's efforts went unrewarded, much to the understandable chagrin of Van Nistelrooy as the Dutchman endeavours to shift his side's focus back to the Premier League relegation dogfight.

Two points adrift of safety in 18th place in the Premier League table, the Foxes certainly have a dreadful streak of home form to thank for their current predicament, as they have lost each of their four Premier League games at the King Power, conceding nine goals and failing to score any themselves.

Only one Premier League side has ever lost five home games in a row without scoring in any of them - the doomed 2019-20 Norwich City crop - and Leicester's gut-wrenching 4-2 loss at the Emirates in September made it six straight defeats against Arsenal in the top division.

Leicester City Premier League form:

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Leicester City form (all competitions):

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Arsenal Premier League form:

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Arsenal form (all competitions):

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Team News

As well as the stricken Havertz, Arsenal also lost Gabriel Martinelli to a hamstring concern in the second-leg loss to Newcastle; his issue is not quite as severe, but the Brazil international is not expected back in action for another few weeks.

With Gabriel Jesus (ACL) and Bukayo Saka (hamstring) still out for the long-term, Arteta is well and truly down to the barest bones in attack, where Ethan Nwaneri, Leandro Trossard and Raheem Sterling will link up unless Nathan Butler-Oyedeji makes a surprise appearance.

There are also fears that luckless defender Takehiro Tomiyasu might need to undergo imminent knee surgery, but Ben White trained fully in Dubai and might be in with a slim chance of making the Arsenal squad for the first time since November.

Arsenal cannot expect much sympathy from Leicester when it comes to attacking concerns, as the Foxes are still sweating over the fitness of Jamie Vardy, whose 11 Premier League goals against the Gunners is only inferior to Wayne Rooney's 12 and Harry Kane's 14.

Jannik Vestergaard (knock) and Victor Kristiansen (knock) are in the exact same boat, but Ricardo Pereira (thigh) will miss another couple of weeks, and long-term knee victim Abdul Fatawu will not play again this season.

Thanks to Decordova-Reid's strike at Old Trafford, former Arsenal youth product Stephy Mavididi should be denied the chance to start against his old employers, having now fallen out of favour after initially playing his way into Van Nistelrooy's good books.

Leicester City possible starting lineup:

Hermansen; Justin, Okoli, Faes, Thomas; Ndidi, Soumare; Decordova-Reid, El Khannouss, Ayew; Vardy

Arsenal possible starting lineup:

Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly; Odegaard, Partey, Rice; Nwaneri, Trossard, Sterling

We say: Leicester City 0-2 Arsenal

Defence might be the best form of attack for a decimated Arsenal side at the King Power, especially when taking Leicester's atrocious recent home form into account.

Written by

Ben Knapton

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