Leicester City vs Arsenal
Date: 28/04/2019
K/O: 12:00
Venue: King Power Stadium
Referee: Michael Oliver
TV: Sky Sports Main Event
Arsenal travel north to the King Power Stadium this Sunday lunchtime looking to get their top-four aspirations back on track.
The Gunners have lost their last two Premier League fixtures and conceded three goals on both occasions in a 3-2 loss vs Crystal Palace which was followed by a 3-1 defeat away to Wolves on Wednesday evening. Emery admitted during the week that his side need to rediscover their confidence ahead of the trip to the East Midlands.
Brendan Rodgers has been full of praise of the job Emery has done at Arsenal this campaign saying ‘I think Unai’s done an excellent job there with his team’ yet he will be hopeful of causing an upset with 7th place still a possibility for the Foxes.
Head to Head: Arsenal have a rather favourable record against the Foxes and despite losing this fixture last campaign, this was not helped by a sending off during the first half which ultimately lead to the 3-1 loss. Before defeat last season, they had not lost to Leicester since 2000, only drawing four games in this time and winning nine. Arsenal won the reverse fixture back in October by the same scoreline of 3-1. Overall the Gunners have won 66 of the 140 games between the two sides with the Foxes coming out on top on 30 occasions.
Team News
Leicester City: Brendan Rodgers has no new injury concerns ahead of the trip of Arsenal with the only absentee being that of Daniel Amartey. Club captain, Wes Morgan is back in contention after missing out last time out due to personal reasons. The latter will likely take a place on the bench with Maguire and Evans being those selected in front of Kasper Schmeichel.
Rodgers should remain with his favoured 4-1-4-1 formation with Barnes, who came from the bench to equalise against West Ham last time out, possibly taking the place of Albrighton or Gray from the start.
Arsenal: In comparison to Rodgers, Emery has a few more selection headaches ahead of the trip to the King Power. He has stated that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang should be fit though after missing out midweek following a sinus procedure. He may start from the bench in East Midlands though with Lacazette leading the line for the Gunners.
Denis Suarez will also be assessed following a groin issue yet will unlikely feature from the off after his disappointing time in North London. Aaron Ramsey remains on the sidelines with a hamstring injury whilst Danny Welbeck also misses out due to an ankle problem.
Hector Bellerin and Rob Holding both remain absent too as both are suffering with knee injuries. Emery chose a 4-2-3-1 formation last time out mainly due to the absence of Aubameyang yet he may revert back to a 3-4-1-2 if the latter returns.
Match facts from Opta
Leicester have won just one of their last 24 Premier League meetings with Arsenal (D7 L16), though it was in this exact fixture last season (3-1).
Arsenal haven’t lost consecutive away league games against Leicester since November 1983.
Leicester have lost eight Premier League home games this season. They’ve only lost more in a single campaign in the competition in 1994-95 (10) and 2001-02 (9).
Arsenal have lost their last two Premier League games on a Sunday, last losing three such games in a row back in March 2013.
Arsenal have never lost a Premier League game that has kicked off at 12 noon, winning 15 and drawing four. Their last such match was a 5-1 win at Fulham earlier this season.
Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers hasn’t lost consecutive home league games at any of his clubs since September 2012, losing vs Arsenal and Manchester United at Anfield as Liverpool boss.
Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers has won just two of his nine Premier League meetings with Arsenal (D3 L4), beating them with Swansea in January 2012 and Liverpool in March 2014.
Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has scored three goals in his two league games against Leicester, averaging a goal every 40 minutes against the Foxes.
Leicester striker Jamie Vardy has scored six goals in his last seven Premier League games against Arsenal – only against Liverpool (7) has he scored more in the competition than he has against the Gunners (6).
Predicted Starting XIs
Leicester City (4-1-4-1): Schmeichel; Pereira, Evans, Maguire, Chilwell; Ndidi; Gray, Teilemans, Maddison, Barnes; Vardy
Arsenal (3-4-1-2): Leno; Sokratis, Koscielny, Monreal; Maitland-Niles, Xhaka, Torreira, Kolasinac; Ozil; Aubameyang, Lacazette
Score Prediction: Leicester City 2 Arsenal 2
The last three fixtures between these two has seen 13 goals with both sides winning 3-1 in the last two fixtures. Arsenal’s away form hasn’t been the best this campaign, highlighted by the fact they’ve only kept one clean sheet on the road in the league. Therefore, expect Leicester to score.
The Foxes will be looking to bounce back after two disappointing games and will be hopeful of given their home fans something to cheer about with 7th place still a possibility for the Foxes.
