Ads

New on Sports Illustrated: Arsenal-Leicester City Preview

Brendan Rodgers is hoping for a reaction from Leicester City against Arsenal on Sunday following on the back of his side's disappointing Europa League last-32 exit.

Leicester were beaten 2-0 by Slavia Prague on home soil on Thursday and have less than three days to pick themselves up before hosting Arsenal in the Premier League.

However, City have been in fine form domestically, losing just one of their last 15 top flight and FA Cup matches, and Rodgers does not expect a hangover of any sort from the shock Slavia setback.

"It's the environment we've created here. One of the key attributes of this group is how we respond," Rodgers said. "We don't dwell on disappointment.

"That's shown in our results. We have to get ready for the next game. We'll be focused."

Leicester faded away last season to finish fifth in the Premier League but they are third after 25 games this season, 15 points better off than an Arsenal side languishing in the bottom half.

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta, whose side are at risk of missing out on the top six for the first time since 1994-95, is not surprised to see the Foxes challenging at the top end of the division.

"I think they totally deserve the position they are in at the moment," Arteta said. "They've been really consistent in the league. I think they've done a lot of good things, there's not any luck or anything like that in how they've developed as a team.

"Obviously they have a really good manager, a great coaching staff and they have made a lot of good decisions in the last few seasons."

Arsenal have collected only four points from the last 15 on offer, though they progressed through to the last 16 of the Europa League on Thursday with a dramatic late win against Benfica.

"The win keeps our season going in a much better way," Arteta said. "The Europa League is going to help us in the Premier League, for sure. It will help keep everyone together and give us something extra to play for."

KEY PLAYERS

Leicester - Harvey Barnes

James Maddison missed the defeat to Slavia through injury, while Barnes was surprisingly named among the subs with an eye on this game against Arsenal.England international Barnes will almost certainly return to the starting line-up on Sunday as he aims to build on a return of nine Premier League goals, making this his best season in front of goal in the top flight.

Arsenal - Bukayo Saka

Young talent Saka delivered yet again when Arsenal needed him most against Benfica by setting up both of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's goals in Athens.He now has 18 assists for the club since the start of last season - more than any other Arsenal player - and will again be their go-to man at the King Power Stadium.

KEY OPTA FACTS

- Leicester have won four of their last six Premier League matches against Arsenal (D1 L1), which is one more than in their previous 36 top-flight league games against the Gunners (D10 L23).

- Arsenal have lost their last three away Premier League matches against Leicester, receiving more red cards (two) than goals scored (one) in these three games.

- The Gunners have won just 14.3 per cent of their Premier League matches at the King Power Stadium (1/7) - among stadiums at which they have played at least five games, only at Hillsborough (12.5 per cent) and Old Trafford (13.8 per cent) do they have a lower win ratio in the competition.

- Three different teams have already done the Premier League double over Arsenal this season (Aston Villa, Manchester City, Wolves) - the most in a single campaign against the Gunners since 1994-95 (four - Leeds United, Liverpool, Newcastle United and QPR).

- Leicester City have won six of their seven Premier League games immediately following a European fixture this season (L1), while Arsenal have lost six of their seven such games (W1).

SHARE

Author

Hi, Its me Hafeez. A webdesigner, blogspot developer and UI/UX Designer. I am a certified Themeforest top Author and Front-End Developer. I'am business speaker, marketer, Blogger and Javascript Programmer.

  • Image
  • Image
  • Image
  • Image
  • Image
    Blogger Comment
    Facebook Comment

0 Comments:

Post a Comment