Football

Leicester vs Arsenal LIVE: Team news confirmed, Mesut Ozil OUT, Premier League fixtures


LEICESTER 0-0 ARSENAL

Leicester XI: Schmeichel, Pereira, Evans, Maguire, Chilwell, Ndidi, Choudhury, Maddison, Albrighton, Tielemans, Vardy

Arsenal XI: Leno, Maitland-Niles, Mustafi, Kolasinac, Sokratis, Torreira, Xhaka, Iwobi, Mkhitaryan, Lacazette, Aubameyang

  • Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang replaces the injured Mesut Ozil
  • Shkodran Mustafi and Sead Kolasinac also return to the starting XI
  • Hamza Choudhury starts for Leicester, replacing winger Demarai Gray

LEICESTER 0-0 ARSENAL

6: Leicester have started in a confident mood. They’ve seen virtually 100 per cent possession in the opening six minutes with Arsenal limited to the odd break forward. Nothing to test either goalkeeper.

4: Shkodran Mustafi makes his mark early with a clumsy challenge on James Maddison just outside the penalty area. The ball finds its way to Wilfred Ndidi, who is gifted way too much time to shoot.

Leicester vs Arsenal: Premier League table, fixtures, score and updates

Leicester vs Arsenal: Premier League table, fixtures, score and updates (Image: REUTERS)

2: A false start?! I do hope that’s not a sign of things to come as referee Michael Oliver spots an infringement with Arsenal’s kick off.

LEICESTER 0-0 ARSENAL

1: And we’re underway folks. My prediction? I can see goals. I’ll sit on the fence with an entertaining 2-2. Kiss of death officially applied…

Leicester vs Arsenal: Premier League table, fixtures, score and updates

Leicester vs Arsenal: Premier League table, fixtures, score and updates (Image: REUTERS)

Here they come!

11:56: Just a few minutes until we’re underway at an overcast King Power Stadium. Kasper Schmeichel and Granit Xhaka exchange a nice hug before leaving the tunnel. In fact, the Leicester ‘keeper appears to be embracing anyone within a 5-meter radius.

Alex Scott…

11:53: “What do you think, Alex. Do you trust Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Shkodran Mustafi in central defence?”

*Literally pauses to stop herself laughing*

Nice confidence booster for Arsenal supporters watching on Sky Sports. She continued to politely swerve the question and praise Unai Emery instead.

Brendan – the debt collector

11:50: Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers will hope Jurgen Klopp continues to pay his rent on time even if he is unable to help his tenant in the Premier League title race.

Liverpool manager Klopp rents the house on Merseyside that Rodgers lived in during his time in charge at Anfield.

The German joked on Thursday that he would withhold payment in an attempt to help motivate Leicester ahead of their game against Manchester City.

“I don’t think it’s a secret (that I’m his landlord). It has been well-documented,” said Rodgers.

“I saw what he said, he is a funny guy. He has been a very, very good tenant. I don’t need to keep an eye on him. He always pays up on time. He’s very good!

“We have a game before that but my job is to do Leicester a favour. Every game is important. These are exciting games in this last period of the season and we will look to give our best and finish the season as strongly as we can.”

Leicester vs Arsenal: Premier League table, fixtures, score and updates

Leicester vs Arsenal: Premier League table, fixtures, score and updates (Image: REUTERS)

Signings signings signings

11:45: Brendan Rodgers plans to use the club’s new training ground to persuade players to sign for Leicester this summer.

It looks unlikely that Leicester will have the lure of European football to tempt potential new signings but the training ground is in development.

“It is on-going work, there is a lot of work going on and a weekly meeting in terms of recruitment. There is daily dialogue in terms of players,” said Rodgers.

“It is never easy when you are trying to bring in players to improve the squad. It is always complex but there is a lot of great work by the guys going on behind the scenes.

“In terms of development, this will be a great proposition for you here. You can come here and develop and become a real footballer.”

Leicester vs Arsenal: Premier League table, fixtures, score and updates

Leicester vs Arsenal: Premier League table, fixtures, score and updates (Image: PA)

Twitter round-up

David: How much medication should I take before watching the Arsenal game – normal strength/double strength/triple strength/the whole damn bottle?!?!

Adrian: Just finished a hospital night shift to find out Mustafi is playing. Now I wont be able to sleep before tonight’s shift. Thanks Arsenal looks like I’ll be enjoying Thursday evenings next season…

Sao: To all the Arsenal fans that think we’ll beat Leicester, I really admire your optimism.

Quite a pessimistic bunch of Arsenal fans on Twitter today. Shkodran Mustafi is the player Virgil van Dijk wishes he was…

Vardy party

11:35: Jamie Vardy has scored six goals in his last seven Premier League matches versus Arsenal. The only club Vardy has scored more against in the Premier League is Liverpool (seven goals).

Leicester vs Arsenal: Premier League table, fixtures, score and updates

Leicester vs Arsenal: Premier League table, fixtures, score and updates (Image: GETTY)

Elsewhere…

11:30: Wall-to-wall sport this afternoon, folks. I hope you’re sitting comfortably.

Obviously we’ll be kicking things off at the King Power Stadium. Followed by the BIG ONE at Turf Moor as the red half of Merseyside pray for a Burnley upset against Manchester City.

Finally we’ll see whether Manchester United can bounce back from a dismal run of results against Chelsea.

We’ve got LIVE coverage of it all plus Leeds vs Aston Villa on Express Sport. So stay tuned otherwise I’ll be angry.

Leicester vs Arsenal: Premier League table, fixtures, score and updates

Leicester vs Arsenal: Premier League table, fixtures, score and updates (Image: GETTY)

Different challenge

11:25: Unai Emery has enjoyed his previous clashes with Brendan Rodgers but is expecting a different challenge today.

The pair have met before, in the group stage of the Champions League in 2017 when Emery was in charge of PSG and Rodgers at Celtic.

Emery’s side ran roughshod over the Scottish champions, winning 5-0 at Parkhead and racking up a 7-1 victory in the French capital.

“It was very different for both of us,” said Emery. “He’s a good coach, he has experience here in England and good performances. He is doing positive things in football as a coach.

“The gap is closer between Arsenal and Leicester. They won the league three years ago and they have a lot of the same players from when they won. And now they have a good feeling and confidence.

“At home they are going to feel strong with their supporters. I think it’s going to be closer – the possibility to win, for them and for us – compared to PSG against Celtic.”

Leicester vs Arsenal: Premier League table, fixtures, score and updates

Leicester vs Arsenal: Premier League table, fixtures, score and updates (Image: GETTY)

Team News – Arsenal

11:20: Unai Emery makes three (enforced) changes from the side who were comfortably beaten by Wolves.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang returns following a sinus problem to replace Mesut Ozil, who is sidelined with a foot injury. Nice and vague that…

Elsewhere Shkodran Mustafi and Sead Kolasinac replace Nacho Monreal and Laurent Koscielny in defence.

Team News – Leicester

11:18: What’s Brendan Rodgers done with his Leicester side then.

Well, he’s made one change for Leicester from the 2-2 draw at West Ham.

Hamza Choudhury replaces Demarai Gray. Harvey Barnes remains on the bench despite his goal against the Hammers last weekend.

Leicester vs Arsenal: Premier League table, fixtures, score and updates

Leicester vs Arsenal: Premier League table, fixtures, score and updates (Image: GETTY)

Midday high…

11:15: Arsenal have never lost a Premier League game that has kicked off at noon, winning 15 and drawing four.

Where’s Mesut?

11:10: OK, I’m reliably informed that Mesut Ozil and Nacho Monreal miss out today with foot and calf problems respectively.

Or perhaps they are being rested for the game against Valencia on Thursday? Who knows…

Twitter round-up

TJ: Renewing Mesut Ozil’s contract may end up being one of the worst decisions in Arsenals history. We’re stuck with that coward for years!

Ben: Mesut Ozil missing out on a Sunday is now a total non-event. Impossible to party hard and work the next day past 30. No matter if one is paid 350k per-week!

Lachlan: Not a bad starting line-up. I am glad to see Aubameyang and Lacazette are both starting. And there are some good players on the bench, but where is Mesut Ozil?

I’m over 30 and get out of bed with a hangover for far less than Ozil is paid, Ben…

Starting XI…

11:00: And here are the line-ups. Where’s Mesut? Well… he’s not in Leicester.

Leicester XI: Schmeichel, Pereira, Evans, Maguire, Chilwell, Ndidi, Choudhury, Maddison, Albrighton, Tielemans, Vardy.

Subs: Ward, Soyuncu, Gray, Iheanacho, Barnes, Mendy, Fuchs.

Arsenal XI: Leno, Maitland-Niles, Mustafi, Kolasinac, Sokratis, Torreira, Xhaka, Iwobi, Mkhitaryan, Lacazette, Aubameyang.

Subs: Cech, Elneny, Koscienly, Mavropanos, Guendouzi, Nketiah, Willock.

Leicester vs Arsenal: Premier League table, fixtures, score and updates

Leicester vs Arsenal: Premier League table, fixtures, score and updates (Image: GETTY)

Twitter round-up

Jay: A win today puts us right back in the top four somehow! But, with six away wins all season and one clean sheet away from home… it’s hard to get optimistic.

Masud: We are due a big away performance and win. Things can’t keep on going like this. Surely the players must have some sort of reaction. I mean we’re fighting for top four! Win this game and there is a high chance we’ve done it! Isn’t that enough motivation Arsenal?

Hayley: I’m struggling to be awake and up at the King Power for this early kick off on a Sunday but I’ll do it just for you LCFC! Come on lads, let’s do this!

Leicester vs Arsenal: Premier League table, fixtures, score and updates

Leicester vs Arsenal: Premier League table, fixtures, score and updates (Image: GETTY)

Brendan – the decider

10:55: Leicester can single-handedly decide the winners of Premier League and top four.

Now I don’t know Brendan Rodgers personally, but I suspect he’s absolutely loving wielding this kind of power.

The Foxes could influence the battle for top-four qualification against Unai Emery’s Arsenal today and Chelsea on the final fixture of the season.

He could also do former club Liverpool a favour by taking points off Manchester City next week. I reckon he could y’know – Brendan knows how to derail a title bid.

Leicester vs Arsenal: Premier League table, fixtures, score and updates

Leicester vs Arsenal: Premier League table, fixtures, score and updates (Image: REUTERS)

Morning…

10:50: Hello everyone and welcome to our LIVE coverage of the Premier League.

I’d also like to welcome any negligent London Marathon runners – knocking people over in a desperate attempt to see today’s team news.

But seriously, well done to everyone running today. All heroes for doing it. I walked six kilometres last week and still feel like I’ve been hit by a bus.

Moving swiftly on, we’ve got a triple-header of Premier League action today starting with Arsenal’s trip to Leicester.

I would say the Gunners are trying to secure a Champions League spot – but honestly – nobody seems to want a top-four finish.

Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Spurs all dropped points last weekend, while Mauricio Pochettino’s side have made things needlessly difficult for themselves after defeat to West Ham yesterday.

Can anyone capitalise? Standby for team news and line-ups.

Leicester Arsenal Premier League Live Stream TV Channel Score Fixtures Table Updates Latest Watch Online Free

Leicester vs Arsenal: Premier League table, fixtures, score and updates (Image: GETTY)

LEICESTER vs ARSENAL – TEAM NEWS

Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers will have an unchanged squad. Daniel Amartey (ankle) is still out and unlikely to play again until next season while Matty James still lacks fitness.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is a doubt for Arsenal. The striker missed Wednesday’s 3-1 defeat at Wolves following a sinus procedure and Unai Emery will wait and see how he trains. Denis Suarez (groin) will also be assessed while Aaron Ramsey (hamstring) and long-term absentees Danny Welbeck (ankle), Hector Bellerin and Rob Holding (both knee) are out.

Last season: Leicester 3 Arsenal 1, Arsenal 4 Leicester 3

Last five league matches: Leicester W W W L D; Arsenal W L W L L

Top scorers (all competitions): Jamie Vardy (Leicester) 16; Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal) 24

Referee: Michael Oliver (Northumberland)



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