By Bulldog Drummond
- Arsenal v Leicester: comparing the form, and the goalscorers
- Arsenal v Leicester: how will the ref handle Leicester’s multiple tackling?
- Arsenal v Leicester: comparing the form, and the goalscorers
- Arsenal v Leicester: how will the ref handle Leicester’s multiple tackling?
The injuries
Arsenal have doubts about two players and it would seem unlikely that either will feature today, with each being allowed one more week to recover fully before being in the first team squad. Although it is just possible either or both could be on the bench.
Fabio Vieira has a foot injury and the last statement from the club three weeks ago said that he then needed another week before he started to train with the team. So presumably that is what he is doing now and getting up to speed.
Emile Smith Rowe had what is described as a “groin/hip/pelvic injury” as well as a “muscular niggle” and was described as just a couple of days away from being in full training. Seeing him on the bench would not be a surprise.
Arsenal, with two injuries are nowhere near the top of the injury league which currently looks like this….
- Liverpool: 8 players out
- Everton: 6 players out
- Leeds United: 6 players out
- Newcastle United: 6 players out
- Crystal Palace: 5 players out
- Manchester United: 5 players out
- Wolverhampton Wanderers: 5 players out
To be fair Arsenal also have an injury to Nelson and Tomiyasu, but the former was not likely to play and the latter is not mentioned in some injury accounts so he may be fully recovered but not match fit.
The Tielemans Affair
The Guardian, with its regular Arsenal put-down “analysis”, announces that if Leicester’s Tielemans plays and says that if “Tielemans dishes out a midfield lesson perhaps it will convince them [Arsenal] to meet Leicester’s price and set a few transfer dominos tumbling.” The notion that Arsenal do things like buy an expensive player or decide to pay more for him just on the basis of one match is a regular Guardian concept – everything at Arsenal is done on the hoof, last minute, without planning. It has always been ludicrous and is as stupid a view today as it was when they did it during the Wenger era.
The Team
Given the most probable team that we will put out today, it seems also likely that this will be once again the youngest team in the Premier League this weekend. The team that most people are picking is
Ramsdale
White Saliba Magahhaes Zinchenko
Partey Xhaka
Saka Ødegaard Martinelli
Jesus
The Evening Standard gives us the same men in the team although with some rather strange positional changes, including Ødegaard, playing alongside Partey, Xhaka but on the wing, rather than further forward in the centre. That seems unlikely to me.
This gives us an average age of 24.1 as opposed to Leicester’s 26.9 for their most commonly selected starting line up.
Football.London has a new approach this season with various writers giving not only their own line up but the bench as well. One such is
Ramsdale;
White, Saliba, Gabriel, Tierney;
Partey, Odegaard, Zinchenko;
Saka, Jesus, Martinelli
leaving Turner, Tomiyasu, Holding, Xhaka, Lokonga, Vieira, Smith Rowe, Pepe, Nketiah on the bench and Zinchenko not in the squad.
Recent games
Looking back to our last three home matches we find…
| Date | Game | Res | Score | Competition |
| 23 Apr 2022 | Arsenal v Manchester United | W | 3-1 | Premier League |
| 8 May 2022 | Arsenal v Leeds United | W | 2-1 | Premier League |
| 22 May 2022 | Arsenal v Everton | W | 5-1 | Premier League |
| Average score | W | 3-1 |
| Date | Game | Res | Score | Competition |
| 1 May 2022 | Tottenham Hotspur v Leicester City | L | 3-1 | Premier League |
| 15 May 2022 | Watford v Leicester City | W | 1-5 | Premier League |
| 19 May 2022 | Chelsea v Leicester City | D | 1-1 | Premier League |
| Average score | L | 2-3 |
And back with the funny guys
One other piece of news that has popped up this morning: Barcelona, following a few more last-minute sales of assets have managed to register all their players for the coming season. The only problem they are going to have is next summer, when they really won’t have too many assets left to sell.
What a dynamic, creative performance today. Jesus involved in all 4 goals (2g, 2a)! There were great goals and breathtaking passes but for me the best thing to see was the fight. Contesting balls all over the pitch. And after each Leicester goal it took the Gunners less than 2 mins to respond with a goal of their own. What grit and determination. Every player was involved, no passengers today.
I think there’s more to come from this young side. It may only be 2 matches, but I for one wouldn’t want to miss any going forward.
COYG!!!