Arsenal v Leicester: Premier League – live! – The Guardian

64 min: With Leicester forced to commit men forward as they chase the deficit, things are quickly moving from end to end. After some furious attacks from both teams, a big chance for Barnes who just had the ball nicked from his feet inside the box by Tierney.

61 min: Two changes for Leicester straight off the goal. Justin and Ndidi have replaced Ricardo and Mendy

With a little shimmy, Lacazette buries his penalty into the top left corner.

58 min: Penalty! After plenty of deliberation and a VAR check, Taylor awards Arsenal a penalty and gives Soyuncu a yellow card.

55 min: Leicester clear the ball off the line! After Martinelli won a free kick, Odegaard’s free kick ended with Party heading towards the goal from inside the box and it was eventually cleared by Thomas. However, the ball may have hit Soyuncu’s hand as it was cleared. Tense moments…

50 min: Big chance for Arsenal after an outrageous move up the pitch. After scuppering a Leicester attack, Arsenal immediately went on the break, slickly moving the ball through the tightest spaces. Some particularly beautiful passes from Odegaard, who continues to pull the strings. Some good defence from Leicester though, with multiple players blocking shots before Partey was just unable to connect with a left-footed shot.

47 min: A good start from Arsenal, who immediately win a free kick in Leicester’s half. After a short free kick by Saka, Tierney whipped a cross straight towards White inside the box, who attempted a backheel shot. It wasn’t really close, but it looked nice.

45 min: Leicester do indeed kick off, immediately sending the ball straight into Ramsdale’s arms.

And we’re back for the second half. The players are out on the Emirates pitch once more. Leicester to kick off.

Partey’s header from a corner separates the two teams at half time. After a blistering opening from Arsenal as they created wave after wave of offence, Leicester really improved in the final 10 minutes. An interesting second half to come.

43 min: Good chance. A solid delivery by Maddison found Soyuncu’s left foot from the left of the goal, who attempted to lob Ramsdale but he just could not keep his shot down.

41 min: The pressure is cetainly building. After a long period of possession from Leicester, Saka won the ball. Lacazette, under pressure, immediately gave the ball away to Albrighton. As he attempted to win it back, Lacazette committed a frustrated foul.

39 min: This is by far Leicester’s best spell of the game and they are starting to impose consistent pressure on Arsenal. This time, a cross from Maddison from the right yields another corner. After some tense moments, Arsenal clear.

35 min: Chance! After Leicester engineered a couple of corners, Albrighton whipped in a cross from the right that landed squarely on Barnes’ forehead. Solid header from Barnes towards the side of the goal, which Ramsdale was more than equal to. Good reflex save.

30 min: A brief stoppage after Ihenacho socked Gabriel in the face as they tussled for a ball. It seemed a bit reckless rather than malicious and that’s what Anthony Taylor seems to have concluded. As Gabriel fell to the ground and needed some time to get up, Ihenacho received a yellow card.

29 min: After a strong few minutes from Leicester, Arsenal regained possession and engineered a nice, patient attack. It ended with Lacazette attempting a solid shot from distance, but Schmeichel had no problem picking it up.

25 min: Leicester are slowly beginning to settle after being overwhelmed for 20 minutes and they just generated their first significant chance as Maddison very nearly picked up the ball in front of an open goal after a nice move from the left.

Arsenal were saved only by an excellent last ditch tackle from White after Ramsdale attempt to beat away a low cross from the left rolled towards Maddison on the edge of the box.

23 min: A first real chance for Leicester, with a lofted ball from Dewsbury-Hall finding Barnes in the area. From a tight angle on the left, Barnes attempted to beat Ramsdale but the ball rolled out for a corner.

19 min: Arsenal continue to batter Leicester here, attacking in wave after wave. Surrounded by about four players, Saka beat them all, carried the ball into the box and then he fell in the area. There looked to be some contact. As the crowd shouted for a penalty, however, Arsenal coolly recycled the ball, with Martinelli’s strike just not firm enough.

17 min: Chance! Partey hits the woodwork after a beautifully worked goal from the right. After a series of quick, silky passes including a backheel from Lacazette inside the box, Xhaka’s shot was blocked. The ball rolled to Partey from outside of the box, and he just couldn’t curl it into the top right hand corner.

14 min: This has been such an impressive last eight or so minutes from Arsenal and Martinelli in particular is everywhere. This time, he picked up a lofted ball from the left and breezed past Ricardo on the left. He looked through on goal before he was deemed offside once more.

After a brilliant start from Arsenal yields an early corner, Martinelli whips in an excellent delivery that Partey confidently heads in for his second goal of the season .

8 min: Martinelli is already making himself a nuisance here. This time, he is released inside the box by a slick pass from Odegaard. However, Schmeichel was equal to his finish and then he was ruled offside.

6 min: After patiently building from the back for the past few minutes, Arsenal create some danger through a great pass by Tierney to Martinelli on the left. Martinelli runs at Pereira before the ball goes out for a corner. A few penalty appeals, but nothing major.

3 min: While Arsenal have had possession for most of the first two minutes, Leicester have already demonstrated their intentions with some high octane pressing out of the gate. A panicked pass from the Arsenal defence turns over the ball. Otherwise, a quiet start.

Brendan Rodgers on Sky Sports:

“Mikel’s done fantastic after a difficult start. They have that cohesion now and players that can make a difference. It’s a real challenge but we came here last year and won.”

Mikel Arteta has opted for no changes to Arsenal’s starting lineup from last weekend when they beat Watford. As expected, Smith Rowe returns to the squad on the bench.

Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester City have made three changes since their win over Leeds, with Vardy out with injury while Tielemans and Ndidi start on the bench. Ihenacho, Pereira and Mendy take their places in the starting lineup.

Teams:

Arsenal XI: Ramsdale; Cedric, White, Gabriel, Tierney; Partey, Xhaka; Saka, Odegaard, Martinelli; Lacazette

Subs: Leno, Smith Rowe, Holding, Pepe, Tavares, Lokonga, Elneny, Nketia, Swanson

Leicester XI: Schmeichel; Pereira, Amartey, Soyuncu, Thomas; Maddison, Mendy, Dewsbury-Hall; Albrighton, Ihenacho, Barnes

Subs: Justin, Tielemans, Perez, Choudhury, Vestergaard, Ndidi, Daka, Jakupovic, Lookman

Jamie Vardy’s 11 goals against Arsenal is the second most any player has scored against Arsenal in the Premier League, behind only Wayne Rooney’s 12. He will play no role today after being ruled out in the week due to his continued recovery from a knock to his knee.

Meanwhile, Leicester’s Marc Albrighton spoke about Arsenal:

“They’ve had a really good season and they’ve really tightened up at the back. They’ve got some good quality young players going forward. It’s going to be a difficult game, but one we’re looking forward to and it’s a great opportunity for ourselves.

“I obviously watch a lot of Premier League football and you can see how well they’re doing. They’ve got some good young English talent, which is great for the England and Arsenal themselves. They seem full of confidence at the moment so it’ll be tough but we look forward to the challenge.”

(via LCFC TV)

In his Friday press conference, Mikel Arteta spoke about Leicester.

Well I agree that they’ve been much more consistent in terms of performances and results. It’s a team that has come a long, long way and I think Brendan [Rodgers] and the coaching staff have done exceptional work, they have a lot of injuries as well, I believe this season, plus the Covid issues that we’ve all been through, it’s a difficult mixture and it’s been difficult for all managers, but as you said, they’re now in a better moment.

Emile Smith-Rowe is back in the squad today after being out due to Covid but Arteta said Arsenal are being “cautious” with Takehiro Tomiyasu.

Hello! Welcome to our coverage of this afternoon’s contest between Arsenal and Leicester City. As Arsenal look to continue their top four push today, Leicester will try to return to the top half of the table after falling down to 12.

Arsenal return home with good vibes surrounding them and as they look for their 5th consecutive Premier League win. Last week, the tight scoreline in their 3-2 away win over Watford did not fully reflect the joy and cohesion they played with, scoring three lovely goals and doing so with their group of young stars, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Odegaard at the heart of anything good for them.

After Manchester United’s win over Tottenham, they trail United in fourth place by two points but with four games in hand over them. Over the past 10 games, Arsenal have won the joint most points in the league alongside Manchester City. We’ll see if they can maintain this run of form.

Meanwhile, 12th place is not where more people envisioned that Leicester City would be this year and it has been a frustrating season. Still, they arrive at the Emirates having at least established some winning habits in recent weeks.

With the caveat that they came against two teams, Leeds and Burnley, fighting for relegation, Leicester have won their last two Premier League games and they are looking for their fifth successive win in all competitions. Like Arsenal, they have only played 25 games so far and can make up plenty of ground on some of the teams ahead of them.