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( votes)Leicester City are the Premier League’s only unbeaten side and will look to extend their run under new boss Claudio Ranieri when they entertain Arsenal at the King Power Stadium tomorrow.
The Foxes have continued the form that saw them escape relegation last season and are now one of the most exciting teams in the division. A ‘never say die’ attitude epitomises a resilience that has seen them fight back from 2-0 twice in the last fortnight to preserve their unbeaten record.
“Coming back from behind might be exciting, but it is not good,” said Ranieri. “I would prefer to get in front and try to stay there.”
‘We must play the perfect match’
Looking ahead to tomorrow’s clash against the Gunner’s, Ranieri added: “It’s not easy to score goals when you go behind in matches. We must concentrate and be more careful because I think to beat Arsenal we must play the perfect match, and also have some very good luck.
“Arsene Wenger can put Alexis Sanchez in goal and Petr Cech up front and Arsenal will still have a great team.”
Leicester currently sit in fourth place, having taken 12 points from their first six games, with Arsenal in fifth on ten points.
Online football bettors may be persuaded by history before choosing who to back given it’s 21 years and 17 league games since the Foxes managed a win over the Gunners. However, the top football tipsters will point out that Arsenal have failed to score in three of their six games this season and currently have the worst shot conversion rate in the EPL – just 6.1% of their attempts on goal finding the net.
A tale of two strikers
Their star man Alexis Sanchez might have had more shots than any other player in the league – 31 – but he has yet to get off the mark, and Wenger said: “I think I played him very early before he was completely fit, physically, that is one explanation.
“The second is that every player who has won a big trophy with the national team (the Copa America with Chile) takes some while to settle and come back to his best.
“I don’t worry for Alexis Sanchez. Even when he doesn’t score he is still a major threat for everybody and I am confident he will score very soon.”
Conversely, Leicester’s Jamie Vardy is on a hot run of form and has scored in three successive Premier League matches for the first time in his career.
Team news
Leicester will be without their on-loan winger Nathan Dyer through a knee injury and Matty James is still not ready to make his comeback. Other than those two, Ranieri has a full complement of players to choose from.
Wenger is able to recall Santi Cazorla to the first team following his mid-week suspension after picking up two yellow cards in the defeat to Chelsea last weekend. The boss is still waiting on the FA to decide on Gabriel’s appeal against an improper conduct charge for the incident with Diego Costa and will be missing defensive midfielder Francis Coquelin through injury.
By: Joe Cahal