STAR PREVIEW Sun: Arsenal v Leicester City

Fans have let the Premier League know about what they think of pay-per-view games but those who choose to pay up for tonight’s encounter between Arsenal and Leicester City could get some drama in a tight game.

Arsenal have made a perfectly satisfactory start to the season, sitting in eighth place with this game in hand after visits to Liverpool and Manchester City which resulted in their only two Premier League defeats of the campaign, whilst they kicked off their Europa League campaign with a battling 2-1 win over Rapid Vienna thanks to David Luiz’s leveller from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s winner.

Arteta, in his short period at the helm, appears to have made Arsenal more mentally resilient and tougher to beat – they have lost just eight games under his tenure and he has 2.03 points per game – and they’ve also been clinical so far this season with two of their three wins coming by a goal, and both in games where they had expected goals ratings of less than 2.0 on Infogol.

Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang hasn’t hit the goalscoring heights he did last season but Alexandre Lacazette has scored three and Bukakyo Saka, Nicolas Pepe, and Eddie Nketiah have all scored so far in the league and it appears that Arsenal have a wide range of players capable of taking chances, even if they haven’t created as much as their other top six rivals.

Arsenal v Leicester City
Premier League
19:15 Sky Sports Box Office

HEAD TO HEAD RECORD
(Maximum 10 matches, since 2010)
SEP 2020 EFL CUP Leicester 0-2 Arsenal
JUL 2020 PREMIER LEAGUE Arsenal 1-1 Leicester
NOV 2019 PREMIER LEAGUE Leciester 2-0 Arsenal
APR 2019 PREMIER LEAGUE Leicester 3-0 Arsenal
OCT 2018 PREMIER LEAGUE Arsenal 3-1 Leicester
MAY 2018 PREMIER LEAGUE Leicester 3-1 Arsenal
AUG 2017 PREMIER LEAGUE Arsenal 4-3 Leicester
APR 2017 PREMIER LEAGUE Arsenal 1-0 Leicester
AUG 2016 PREMIER LEAGUE Leicester 0-0 Arsenal
FEB 2016 PREMIER LEAGUE Arsenal 2-1 Leicester
SEP 2015 PREMIER LEAGUE Leicester 2-5 Arsenal
FEB 2015 PREMIER LEAGUE Arsenal 2-1 Leicester
AUG 2014 PREMIER LEAGUE Leicester 1-1 Arsenal

This is probably a good time to face Leicester, who started the season brilliantly with three straight wins including a remarkable 5-2 win at Manchester City before a 3-0 defeat at home to West Ham, and then a 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa after a last gasp goal. Brendan Rogers side are hammered by injuries and absences, with Youri Tielemans, and Wilfred Ndidi missing from midfield whilst Caglar Soyuncu and Ricardo Pereira are absent from defence.

Jamie Vardy & James Maddison may return upfront and that would be a huge boost for them, but there’s no doubting that they’re vulnerable whilst missing those four players and Arsenal should look to take advantage of those absences. The hosts make more appeal and look to be about the right price, but this has the looks of a tight game. Two of Arsenal’s successes this season have been by a 2-1 score-line and in the event neither side creates all that much, 1-0 to the hosts appeals too.

RECOMMENDED BETS (scale of 1-100 points)
BACK Arsenal 1-0 Leicester 1 pt at 15/2 with
BACK Arsenal 2-1 Leicester 1 pt at 15/2 with

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