Image Source: Alamy Stock Photo
2024/25 English Premier League
Matchday 25
Leicester City v Arsenal
King Power Stadium
Leicester, England
Saturday, 15 February 2025
Kick-off is at 14h30 CAT
Arsenal will be looking to keep the pressure on the Premier League leaders when they travel to the East Midlands for a clash with struggling Leicester at the King Power Stadium on Saturday, February 15 in the lunchtime kick-off.
The Gunners signalled their title intentions as they thrashed defending champions Manchester City 5-1 on February 2 to extend their unbeaten run in the league to 14 matches.
Their joint-biggest win of the season kept Mikel Arteta's side six points behind Liverpool albeit having played one game more, but they are still the closest challengers to the Reds after 24 rounds.
Nottingham Forest continued their remarkable campaign with a 7-0 demolition of Brighton on February 1 to maintain the three-point gap to the North Londoners in third place, while Chelsea moved back up to fourth courtesy of a 2-1 victory over West Ham.
The Foxes have not found the going any easier under Ruud van Nistelrooy, who has won just two of his first 11 games at the helm since being appointed as Steve Cooper's permanent successor on December 1.
A 2-1 triumph over Tottenham on January 26 arrested a seven-match losing streak, but Van Nistelrooy's side slumped to a heavy 4-0 defeat at Everton on February 1.
A 15th loss of the season coupled with Wolves' 2-0 win against Aston Villa saw Leicester drop back down into the relegation zone, two points adrift of safety in 18th position.
Suggested photo: Wilfred Ndidi of Leicester
Van Nistelrooy is hoping to have Jannik Vestergaard, Victor Kristiansen and Jamie Vardy available despite the trio picking up knocks against the Toffees. However, Abdul Fatawu (knee) and Ricardo Pereira (thigh) are definitely ruled out.
Arteta has to do without Gabriel Jesus (knee), Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli (both thigh), although Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu (both knee) could come back into contention.
Van Nistelrooy saw his team lose to former employers Manchester United in the FA Cup fourth round on February 7, with a stoppage-time goal from Harry Maguire clinching a 2-1 comeback win.
The Dutchman felt his players put in a much better performance than at Goodison Park and believes they will be okay if they show the same fight in the remaining four months of the season.
"We leave the ground here, not like when we left Spurs, but similar. Everton was nowhere near. It wasn't good enough, we said it, but we reacted and showed that we're back in that fight that we need in the next weeks," Van Nistelrooy said.
"In the first half, we defended higher up the pitch and were pressing. We didn't allow United much time on the ball. Also 15 minutes after the break it was the same. After that, they came on a little bit closer to our box.
"Of course, given their qualities, you know they can create and they did. But other than that, we were constantly there."
Suggested photo: Jurrien Timber of Arsenal
Arteta missed out on another Wembley final after losing to Newcastle in the last four of the EFL Cup following a 2-0 loss in the second leg. He has urged his players to redouble their efforts in the league and Europe in a bid to win some silverware.
"We need to swallow this one, it's a tough one and we had a lot of expectations. We knew the difficulty of the task because of the result that we brought from London, but there's nothing we can do right now," the Spaniard said.
"What we could do was on the pitch a few minutes ago. Now we have to look forward, first of all I think this is going to be a painful one, and when we're in Dubai, recharge and go again because we still have a lot to play for."
Head-to-Head (Last Five Premier League Meetings)
Matches - 5
Leicester wins - 0
Arsenal wins - 5
Draws - 0
Premier League Matchday 25 fixtures:
Friday, February 14
22h00: Brighton & Hove Albion v Chelsea
Saturday, February 15
14h30: Leicester City v Arsenal
17h00: Aston Villa v Ipswich Town
17h00: Fulham v Nottingham Forest
17h00: Manchester City v Newcastle United
17h00: Southampton v Bournemouth
17h00: West Ham United v Brentford
19h30: Crystal Palace v Everton
Sunday, February 16
16h00: Liverpool v Wolverhampton Wanderers
18h30: Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester United