Image Source: Alamy Stock Photo
2024/25 English Premier League
Matchday 6
Arsenal v Leicester City
Emirates Stadium
London, England
Saturday, 28 September 2024
Kick-off is at 14h00
Arsenal will be hoping to stay in touch with the Premier League frontrunners when they welcome newcomers Leicester to the Emirates Stadium on Saturday, September 28.
The Gunners are just one of four teams still with an unbeaten record this season after they fought back from an early goal down to draw 2-2 with Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on September 22.
Mikel Arteta's side trail league leaders City by two points in fourth place and are only one behind Liverpool (2nd) and Aston Villa (3rd), both of whom have already lost once.
The North Londoners will want to address their disciplinary record though, after picking up two reds cards in their last three games. Declan Rice was sent off against Brighton and Leandro Trossard received his marching orders at City.
The Foxes are still searching for their first win since gaining promotion, although their two defeats have been by a one-goal margin and they've picked up a point in each of the other three games.
A 1-1 draw with struggling Everton lifted Steve Cooper's side up to 15th position on goal difference ahead of Crystal Palace (16th) and Ipswich (17th), giving them a two-point cushion to the relegation zone.
Image copyright: Getty Images
In team news, Trossard misses out through suspension and joins Mikel Merino (shoulder), Martin Odegaard (ankle), Oleksandr Zinchenko (calf) and Kieran Tierney (thigh) on the sidelines for the hosts. Jakub Stolarczyk and Patson Daka (both ankle) are the only two absentees for the visitors.
During his half-time talk, Arteta stressed to his players the importance of remaining disciplined against the Citizens in the second half as he knew they would have to do a lot of defensive work.
"We had to adapt to the context, explain the game that we have to try to play, and how we could prevent certain things, not all of them - that's going to be impossible for 56 minutes, especially mentally," the Spaniard said.
"We had to be ready to be so disciplined, and make a lot of defensive actions because we knew the game that was coming.
"We came here to win, that's the reality. And within the difficulty, obviously we were thrown an aspect that we didn't think about. But we got at least a draw, and we have to move on."
Image copyright: Getty Images
Cooper acknowledged they were nowhere near good enough in the first half against the Toffees, but credited his players for responding after the break to clinch a share of the spoils.
"We didn't play well in that first half. We've got to own up to that. We were nowhere near the level that we need to be in any Premier League game. We were deservedly losing the game," he said.
"It's a game that should have been better, let's not hide away from that, but as it played on, it could have been worse. We deserve no more than a point. I feel like we should have got a point after the second half, but we need to do better than the first half for sure.
"The players do deserve credit. You can go under when you play poorly. Sometimes you can go and hide and the game can get worse. To be fair to the guys, they really got together and stood up to the challenge and did better."
Head-to-Head (Last Five Premier League Meetings)
Matches - 5
Arsenal wins - 5
Leicester wins - 0
Draws - 0
Premier League Matchday 6 fixtures:
Saturday, September 28
11h30: Newcastle United v Manchester City
12h00: Arsenal v Leicester City
12h00: Brentford v West Ham United
12h00: Chelsea v Brighton & Hove Albion
12h00: Everton v Crystal Palace
12h00: Nottingham Forest v Fulham
16h30: Wolverhampton Wanderers v Liverpool
Sunday, September 29
13h00: Ipswich Town v Aston Villa
15h30: Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspur
Monday, September 30
19h00: Bournemouth v Southampton
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