Will Arsenal underpin their CL ambitions against the Foxes?
Four teams are fighting for the fourth starting spot in the English Premier League for the upcoming Champions League season. Thanks to outstanding performances in recent weeks, the Arteta eleven from London meanwhile has the best cards in the fight for the top four. This weekend, Arsenal and Leicester face off at London’s Emirates Stadium.
This weekend marks the 29th regular season matchday in England, but for both teams this is only their 26th league game. So both the Gunners and the Foxes still have three catch-up games up their sleeves. For the visitors from Leicester in particular, an intense period lies ahead, as the Rodgers eleven is also still represented internationally. Leicester were still in action on Thursday night and already have one foot in the Conference League quarterfinals after a 2-0 win over Rennes.
The bookmakers see Arsenal against Leicester as very clear favorites according to current betting odds. Leicester certainly has the quality to stand up to Arsenal, however, the Gunners are in convincing form and have been rushing from success to success in recent weeks. The match kicks off on Sunday afternoon at 17:30.
Arsenal – statistics & current form
The 2015/16 season was the last time Arsenal London finished in the top four and reached the Champions League. In recent years, the Gunners by no means acted like an absolute top team anymore and the fans had to cope with many setbacks. In the meantime, however, hope has returned and Mikel Arteta’s young team is playing refreshing and attractive soccer again. Long forgotten is the disastrous start to the season (three defeats without scoring a goal).
25 points in ten games
When looking at the form table of the last ten league games in the English Premier League, the Gunners are even tied for first place with league leaders Manchester City. The Gunners have scored 25 points out of a possible 30 and are brimming with self-confidence. This self-confidence has recently been particularly evident in the closing stages of games. Arsenal doesn’t shoot its rivals off the pitch, but has developed a quality of winning close games.
Arsenal have won all of their last four league games, each time with a margin of only one goal. The last Premier League team to have five league wins by a one-goal margin was Birmingham City in November/December 2009.
2.23 points per home game
Not only does the current form favor the Gunners, but so does the home strength. The Emirates Stadium is gradually becoming a fortress again. This season, Arteta’s eleven won nine of the 13 home matches and only conceded a defeat against Chelsea (matchday 2) and Manchester City (matchday 21). On average, the Arteta eleven collects 2.23 points per home game. They have scored an average of 2.46 goals per game, which is the sixth lowest of all 20 PL teams. In view of this, the odds for Arsenal vs Leicester are set relatively high for the under 2.5.
Predicted lineup of Arsenal:
Ramsdale – Tierney, Gabriel, White, Soares – Partey, Xhaka – Martinelli, Odegaard, Saka – Lacazette
Last Arsenal games:
Premier League
03/13 2022 – Arsenal London 2 – 0 Leicester
03/06 2022 – Watford 2 – 3 Arsenal London
02/24 2022 – Arsenal London 2 – 1 Wolverhampton
02/19 2022 – Arsenal London 2 – 1 Brentford
02/10 2022 – Wolverhampton 0 – 1 Arsenal London
Leicester – Statistics & current form
Place twelve in the table – basically, Brendan Rodgers’ side are in absolute no-man’s land in the table. However, the Foxes still have three catch-up games up their sleeve and could well start a race to catch up. With Everton, Norwich and Chelsea as opponents, a lot is possible in the catch-up games. In addition, the team has recently been in much improved form.
Three wins to nil in March
March couldn’t have gone any better so far, with Leicester winning all three of their competitive matches and not conceding a single goal in the process. Seemingly, the Foxes have finally found defensive stability again. The 2-0 away win at Burnley FC on March first was even a first. For the first time this season, Kasper Schmeichel was able to keep a clean sheet in an away game. That debut was followed by a narrow 1-0 win over Leeds United and a 2-0 home win over Rennes in the Conference League on Thursday night. With more than a leg up, the English representatives are now in the quarterfinals and underpin their role as one of the big favorites to win the title.
The comfortable starting position means that Brendan Rodgers does not have to make a large-scale rotation on Sunday, but can give one or the other star a breather in France. With international competition and 13 (!) Premier League games, Leicester have an intense few weeks ahead of them.
Vardy meets his favorite opponent
The recent upward trend can also be explained by the return of Jamie Vardy. The 35-year-old was out of action for several weeks due to a thigh injury. During these phases, Leicester remained without a win in five Premier League games. In the success at Burnley, he celebrated an 18-minute comeback and immediately advanced to match-winner with a goal and assist. He has already scored ten times in just 18 league games. Speaking of Vardy, the Gunners are one of his all-time favorite opponents. He has already scored eleven goals against Arsenal, and only Wayne Rooney has scored more times against Arsenal in PL history.
Predicted Leicester lineup:
Schmeichel – Thomas, Amartey, Söyüncü, Choudhoury – Ndidi – Barnes, Tielemans, Dewsbury-Hall, Albrighton – Vardy
Last matches played by Leicester:
Premier League
03/13 2022 – Arsenal London 2 – 0 Leicester
European Conference League Final Stage
03/10 2022 – Leicester 2 – 0 Rennes
Premier League
03/05 2022 – Leicester 1 – 0 Leeds
03/01 2022 – Burnley 0 – 2 Leicester
European Conference League Final Stage
02/24 2022 – Randers FC 1 – 3 Leicester
Arsenal – Leicester Direct Comparison / H2H Record
Last season Leicester celebrated a 1-0 away win at the Emirates Stadium. For the Foxes, it was the first away win against the Gunners in the league in 23 attempts. Never before in their long history have Leicester celebrated two away wins en suite against Arsenal. If that feat does indeed come to fruition on Sunday, odds of up to 6.00 will tempt Arsenal vs. Leicester.The Arteta eleven won the first leg 2-0 at the King Power Stadium and could win both home and away games against Leicester for the first time since the 2015/16 season.
Arsenal – Leicester Tip
The Gunners are absolutely “on fire” and gradually reminiscent of glory days. The offense impresses with enormous speed, playfulness and creativity. The recent successes do not come by chance and yet the odds for the bet on the home win at Arsenal against Leicester are not particularly attractive. The guests have overcome the mini-crisis and present themselves significantly improved recently. Rodgers’ eleven is hardly without a chance.
Even more interesting than a bet on the direct outcome of the match, however, is the bet on the under 2.5. In the duel between Arsenal and Leicester, odds of well over 2.00 are offered for this forecast. An assessment that is not really comprehensible. Certainly, Arsenal has recently generated a lot of danger, especially offensively, but Leicester is turning into a defensive bulwark after three games to zero.
