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Jamie Vardy’s 11 goals against Arsenal is the second most any player has scored against Arsenal in the Premier League, behind only Wayne Rooney’s 12. He will play no role today after being ruled out in the week due to his continued recovery from a knock to his knee.
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Meanwhile, Leicester’s Marc Albrighton spoke about Arsenal:
“They’ve had a really good season and they’ve really tightened up at the back. They’ve got some good quality young players going forward. It’s going to be a difficult game, but one we’re looking forward to and it’s a great opportunity for ourselves.
“I obviously watch a lot of Premier League football and you can see how well they’re doing. They’ve got some good young English talent, which is great for the England and Arsenal themselves. They seem full of confidence at the moment so it’ll be tough but we look forward to the challenge.”
(via LCFC TV)
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In his Friday press conference, Mikel Arteta spoke about Leicester.
Well I agree that they’ve been much more consistent in terms of performances and results. It’s a team that has come a long, long way and I think Brendan [Rodgers] and the coaching staff have done exceptional work, they have a lot of injuries as well, I believe this season, plus the Covid issues that we’ve all been through, it’s a difficult mixture and it’s been difficult for all managers, but as you said, they’re now in a better moment.
Emile Smith-Rowe is back in the squad today after being out due to Covid but Arteta said Arsenal are being “cautious” with Takehiro Tomiyasu.
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Preamble
Hello! Welcome to our coverage of this afternoon’s contest between Arsenal and Leicester City. As Arsenal look to continue their top four push today, Leicester will try to return to the top half of the table after falling down to 12.
Arsenal return home with plenty of good vibes surrounding them and as they look for their 5th consecutive Premier League win, hope continues to rise. Last week, the tight scoreline in their 3-2 away win over [Brentford] did not fully reflect the joy and cohesion they played with, scoring three lovely goals and doing so with their group of young stars, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Odegaard at the heart of anything good for them.
After Manchester United’s win over Tottenham, they trail United in fourth place by two points but with four games in hand over them. Over the past 10 games, Arsenal have won the joint most points in the league alongside Manchester City. We’ll see if they can maintain this run of form.
Meanwhile, 12th place is not where more people envisioned that Leicester City would be this year and it has been a frustrating season. Still, they arrive at the Emirates having at least established some winning habits in recent weeks.
With the caveat that they came against two teams, Leeds and Burnley, fighting for relegation, Leicester have won their last two Premier games and they are looking for their fifth successive win in all competitions. Like Arsenal, they have only played 25 games so far and can make up plenty of ground on some of the teams ahead of them.