Leeds United v Arsenal: Premier League – live!

So what does it all mean? Well, the return of Kalvin Phillips is huge news for Leeds, taking their school-maam bun quotient up to 782. It’s not the remotest coincidence that his absence coincided with that pair of 4-1 tousings, not just because he protects a dicky back four but because his passing means his team have more of the ball and create more chances. And Marcelo Bielsa makes one other change, handing Raphina his first Premier League start, in place of Struijk.

Leeds United (a pedagogical 4-1-4-1): Meslier; Ayling, Koch, Cooper, Dallas; Phillips;Alioski, Raphinha, Klich, Harrison; Bamford. Subs: Casilla, Poveda, Roberts, Costa, Rodrigo, Struijk, Davis.

Arsenal (a sophisticate’s 4-3-2-1): Leno; Bellerin, Holding, Gabriel, Tierney; Xhaka, Willock, Ceballos; Willian, Pepe, Aubameyang. Subs: Runarsson, Saka, Lacazette, Maitland-Niles, Mustafi, Nelson, Nketiah.

The world is strange and people are strange, so it’s no great shock that football is strange, it being played in the world, by people. But rarely has it been as strange as now, and the two teams playing this afternoon are stranger than most.

Few Premier League teams have impressed as much as Leeds this season, who were especially great against Liverpool and Man City. However consecutive 1-4 defeats, to Leicester and Palace, indicated a fragility in defence and in the mind, and somehow they are now 15th in the table. This is not so impressive.

Arsenal, meanwhile, were so impressively aggressive at Manchester United only to be comprehensively gubbed at home by Aston Villa. Most particularly, they are struggling to score and struggling to create, a problem that looks no closer to resolution now than it did in the summer. But perhaps that last game will precipitate a change, because although a player or two is required, the best the squad has to offer is definitely better than this, this being one goal in four league games, and that an unnecessarily conceded penalty. Mikel Arteta’s team selection will introduce us to his thoughts on the matter.

All of which is to say that this is a really interesting match-up with the potential to grow into a really exciting game. Leeds will take it to Arsenal because that’s what they do, and Arsenal might just respond in kind because that’s what they’ve been pushed into doing.

Kick-off: 4.30pm GMT