Leicester City return to action on Wednesday night, eight days after their defeat to Atletico Madrid in the quarter finals of the Champions League. Arsenal however played Manchester City on Sunday in the semi-finals of the FA Cup, beating Pep Guardiola’s team, but requiring injury time to do so.
The Gunners had to come from behind at Wembley on Sunday, with Sergio Aguero putting City ahead shortly after the hour mark. Nacho Monreal equalised for Arsene Wenger’s side, before Alexis Sanchez fired home the winner in the first half of extra time to set up an FA Cup final with Chelsea. It’s the third time in four years that Arsenal have reached the final of the cup competition. They’ve won the previous two, but face much tougher opposition in Antonio Conte’s Chelsea team this time around. It gives Arsenal the opportunity to contest for a trophy, considering their seventh place standing in the Premier League, while Pep Guardiola will finish without silverware in a season for the first time in his managerial career.
The Foxes resume their Premier League campaign with what could be a daunting away trip to Arsenal. Despite reaching the quarter finals of the Champions League, the Foxes currently sit 15th in the table, six points above the bottom three, however they have two games in hand over many of the teams around them. Their last Premier League fixture saw them draw 2-2 at Crystal Palace, with goals coming from Robert Huth and Jamie Vardy.
Arsenal vs. Leicester City Predictions
This is a tricky game to predict, as you don’t know which teams will turn up. If Leicester play like they did against Atletico and Arsenal don’t show up, then Leicester will win. On the other hand, if Arsenal play like they did against Manchester City, then they should win. Both sides are inconsistent, so a score draw could be a potential result here.
Arsenal vs. Leicester City Betting Tips
- Arsenal to win: 10/17
- Draw: 33/10
- Leicester to win: 17/4
- Jamie Vardy to score first: 23/4
- Alexis Sanchez to score first: 16/5
Head to Head
- Leicester are on a 20 game winless run against Arsenal in the Premier League (D7 L13), with their only win against the Gunners coming in their first ever Premier League encounter in November 1994 (2-1 victory).
- Arsenal have won their last nine Premier League home matches against Leicester, the longest run in the current division.
- If the Gunners beat Leicester, it will equal their longest home winning streak against a single club (10 successive wins against Everton between January 1997 and September 2005).
- Theo Walcott has found the net in three of his last four Premier League appearances against Leicester, including in both home games.
- Jamie Vardy has scored Leicester’s last three goals against Arsenal in the Premier League, scoring the opening goal twice. However, he is yet to end up on the winning side.
- Vardy has scored seven goals in 10 competitive games for Leicester under Craig Shakespeare, this after netting seven goals in 32 games in 2016/17 under Claudio Ranieri for the Foxes.
- Alexis Sanchez has scored 19 Premier League goals this season, equalling his best-ever tally in a single league season (19 with Barcelona in 2013/14).
- Arsenal will be looking to win consecutive Premier League matches for the first time in over three months (22nd January 2017), following their 2-1 win at Middlesbrough in their previous game.
- Leicester have scored at least two goals in every one of their seven Premier League matches under Craig Shakespeare (17 goals in total). Their previous 17 Premier League goals came over a period of 20 matches.
Arsenal Team News
Arsenal could be without a number of players for this match, with Alex Oxlade Chamberlain (knock), Shkodran Mustafi (thigh), David Ospina (back), Lucas Perez (thigh) and Santi Cazorla (muscular) all likely to miss out.
Leicester City Team News
Islam Slimani could be a doubt for this game. He missed the Champions League clash with Atletico with a groin injury. Robert Huth is set to start, but Nampalys Mendy and Molla Wague are both injured and won’t play.