Arsenal are back in Premier League action when they take on Leicester City at the Emirates Stadium this evening [7.15pm kick-off].
The Gunners got their Europa League group stage campaign off to a winning start after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang came off the bench to secure a 2-1 comeback victory over Rapid Vienna in Austria on Thursday night.
However, Arsenal’s focus is now back to domestic matters as they look to build on a solid start to the new season that’s seen them win three of their five league games so far with the two defeats coming against Liverpool and Manchester City.
Mikel Arteta’s side competed well at the Etihad Stadium last weekend and were perhaps unfortunate to lose the game 1-0 so the Arsenal boss should take a lot of positives from that defeat despite not taking away any points.
Arsenal face another stern test today as they welcome Leicester to north London with the two clubs sitting level on points in the Premier League table. However, Brendan Rodgers will be desperate to get back to winning ways following two disappointing defeats to West Ham and Aston Villa.
Team news
Arsenal will hand a late fitness test to Willian after he missed the Rapid Vienna game with a calf issue but the club have confirmed Dani Ceballos is back in contention after recovering from a minor ankle issue.
Rob Holding has been ruled out for three weeks with a hamstring strain while Calum Chambers and Pablo Mari are still working their way back to full fitness so they remain out along with Gabriel Martinelli.
Arteta is expected to make changes from the side that won in midweek with the likes of Kieran Tierney, Granit Xhaka, Hector Bellerin and Aubameyang all set for recalls to the starting eleven. Thomas Partey should make his full home debut after impressing against Vienna.
Leicester hope Jamie Vardy will pass a late fitness test to return up front after missing the last two games through injury. However, the visitors will still be without Ricardo Pereira, Wilfred Ndidi, Caglar Soyuncu and Daniel Amartey.
Expected line-ups
Prediction
Arsenal 2-1 Leicester: Vardy’s return would be a huge boost for Leicester as he has a terrific record against Arsenal having scored 10 goals in 10 games against the Gunners so he’ll be confident of getting on the scoresheet again if he’s passed fit.
However, Arsenal are a far more organised unit under Arteta and the hosts have a good record against Leicester on home soil so I fancy them to edge it this evening. It should be a tightly contested game but I’m going for a 2-1 Arsenal win.
