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Arsenal vs Leicester City

  • thelimerickgooner
  • Sep 27, 2024
  • 7 min read

Intro


Arsenal return to Premier League action this weekend when they welcome Leicester City to the Emirates Stadium. It's the 35th meeting between the two sides in the Premier League era. The match comes just days after both sides progressed through the 3rd Round of the League Cup. The Gunners could reach the top of the table with a win, while newly promoted Leicester are still looking for their first league win of the season.


Here's everything you need to know ahead of the match - and a whole lot of stuff you didn't even know that you needed to know... you know?


Let's go!





The Form Guide


The Arsenal come in to this game off the back of a 5-1 League Cup win over Bolton Wanderers. We're unbeaten in 7 games in all competitions so far this season.


This will be our 3rd home game of the season in the Premier League. The previous two were the opening day win over Wolves and that 1-1 draw with Brighton at the end of August.




Leicester City are still looking for their first win on their return to the Premier League. The Foxes have drawn 3 of their opening 5 games. They were denied a win in their last away game at Crystal Palace due to a 92nd minute penalty from Jean Mateta.


Our opponents were also in League Cup action this week. Leicester needed penalties to overcome League Two side Walsall. After a goalless draw, Leicester keeper Danny Ward was the hero as he saved 3 penalties in the shootout, which the Foxes won 3-0.


What happened last time?


The last time Leicester visited the Emirates was in August 2022. Gabriel Jesus got his first Arsenal goals in a 4-2 victory. The first of his goals was a wonderful curler into the top corner from inside the box.



An unfortunate own goal from William Saliba gave Leicester some hope at 2-1. But it was almost immediately cancelled out as Granit Xhaka restored our two-goal advantage just a couple of minutes later. James Maddison pulled another back for the visitors before Gabriel Martinelli made sure of things with a great strike from distance.


Leicester went on to be relegated that season, finishing 18th. They have bounced back immediately though, winning the Championship title last year.


Head-to-Head in the Premier League


  • This weekend's clash will be the 35th meeting of Arsenal and Leicester City in the Premier League era. Arsenal have had the better record in this fixture over the years, with 21 wins compared to Leicester's 5.

  • The Gunners have scored exactly twice as many goals as Leicester have in this fixture - with 70 goals to 35.

  • Leicester have just one solitary away victory against Arsenal in the PL. That came in October 2020 - a late Jamie Vardy goal snatching all 3 points.





  • Arsenal have won all of the last 5 PL meetings since that October 2020 defeat. It's our longest winning streak against Leicester since winning 6 in a row in all competitions between 1908 and 1922. Remember them?

  • Our worst PL run against Leicester came between May 2018 and October 2020, when the Gunners won just 1 of 6 clashes. This run featured 4 victories for Leicester.

  • The first of those 4 Leicester wins on that run was a 3-1 reverse at the King Power Stadium in what was Arsene Wenger's penultimate game in charge of Arsenal.

  • That defeat broke a 22-game unbeaten streak for Arsenal against Leicester - a run that stretched all the way back to their very first PL meeting, when Leicester won 2-1 in November 1994.





  • Arsenal have failed to score on just 5 occasions against Leicester in the PL. We've kept 11 clean sheets of our own in this period.

  • We've mentioned his name already and it's hard to avoid Jamie Vardy when it comes to this game - he's far and away the top scorer in this fixture with 11 goals. The next highest is Thierry Henry with 6 goals.

  • There have been 8 red cards between these sides in the PL era. 5 of them have gone to Arsenal players, with the most recent recipient been Eddie Nketiah - sent off during a 1-1 draw in July 2020.


Hat-trick Heroes


Arsenal have scored 41 hat-tricks in the Premier League. The first was scored by Kevin Campbell in a 4-0 win over Ipswich Town in September 1993. The most recent came courtesy of Eddie Nketiah against Sheffield United a little under a year ago.




24 teams have been on the receiving end of an Arsenal hat-trick in the Premier League. Many of them, more than once. Three unfortunate clubs (Ipswich Town, Southampton and West Ham) have conceded hat-tricks to an Arsenal player on three occasions. But one club stands above them all - Leicester City. The Foxes have felt the wrath of an Arsenal forward in full flow on FOUR occasions in the Premier League. Shall we have a look?





An early season clash that will live long in the memories of both sets of fans. For Leicester, it was a spirited fight back after being 2-0 down before a late Matt Elliott goal snatched the draw. But for Arsenal fans, it's a game best remembered for a wonderful Dennis Bergkamp hat-trick and one particular moment of individual brilliance.


It was a crazy end to the game, with four goals coming in the last six minutes - three of them coming in stoppage time! Arsenal came forward again after Leicester had made it 2-2. A hopeful, lofted ball from David Platt was aimed towards Bergkamp. The Dutchman took it down with his right foot, flicked it past the defender with his left, took another touch to set himself before a lovely finish past the goalkeeper. It was magic.


Unfortunately, Leicester did score again to make it 3-3. So we didn't get all three points. But Bergkamp did claim the top three spots in the BBC Goal of the Month award for August 1997 - the only time this has ever happened. A common misconception is that his three Goal of the Month goals came from this game, but that's not the case. His first and third goal from the Leicester hat-trick got in. But the other strike was this brilliant effort (his second of the game) against Southampton at Highbury.






Arsenal, in the midst of a close title race, were in full flow against Leicester at Highbury. Dennis Bergkamp haunted the Foxes again with a wonderful individual performance, but it was a young French striker that took home the match ball that day. Nicolas Anelka scored a first half hat-trick as Arsenal went 4-0 up before the break.


It's rare that a hat-trick hero doesn't get all the plaudits after such a win, but Dennis Bergkamp was just the kind of player that could steal the limelight in a game like this. He may not have scored one himself but the Dutchman got FOUR assists - almost making it a fifth when Patrick Vieira was denied by the post in the second half. Anelka went on to finish the season as Arsenal's top scorer with 19 goals in all competitions. He left the Gunners for Real Madrid that summer in a deal worth around £23 million. Arsenal replaced him with another young Frenchman - a certain Thierry Henry. Speaking of which...






Arsenal delivered some late Christmas presents to their fans in this Boxing Day rout of Leicester. It was a much needed result after the Gunners were beaten 4-0 at Anfield just days earlier. Thierry Henry marked his 50th Arsenal appearance in the best way possible. A stunning volley from the edge of the box had Arsenal 1-0 up at half time. Arsene Wenger's men then ran riot after the break. Henry completed his hat-trick in a second half that also featured goals from Patrick Vieira, Freddie Ljungberg and Tony Adams. Unfortunately, this was the only win in a seven-game stretch for Arsenal.


This was the first of 8 Premier League hat-tricks scored by Thierry Henry. Only 3 players have scored more in the league - Sergio Aguero, Alan Shearer and Robbie Fowler. This 6-1 hammering is also the biggest victory Arsenal have ever had on Boxing Day in the PL era.






Nine years ago this week, Arsenal travelled to Claudio Ranieri's Leicester who were unbeaten in their opening six games. Theo Walcott had equalised after Jamie Vardy's opener, before Alexis Sanchez decided to take control of proceedings. The Chilean, who was yet to score that season for Arsenal, bagged 3 without reply to fire Arsenal into a commanding lead. A second goal for Vardy late on was followed by an Olivier Giroud strike to wrap things up.


Sanchez's three goals showcased the variety to his game. His first was a poachers effort in the six-yard box. His second goal was a wonderful, glancing header as he got on to a great lofted ball into the box from Mesut Ozil. Alexis then rounded off his hat-trick with a superb 25-yard strike into the bottom corner. In doing so, he became the first player to score hat-tricks in the Premier League, Serie A and La Liga.


This result was one of just three defeats Leicester suffered en route to their historic Premier League title. Arsenal completed the double over them with a 2-1 victory at the Emirates a few months later. It's one of just two seasons where Arsenal won both games against the eventual league champions. The other time was in 2006-07, when Arsenal won home and away against Manchester United.




Final Thoughts


It's a 3pm kick-off this Saturday for Arsenal. Man City will have already played by the time we get going. Hopefully Newcastle can do us a favour in the early game.


Arsenal are overwhelming favourites for this game. Leicester are one of six teams that haven't won a game yet in the league. The Gunners have a chance to lay down a marker and kick on, with some very winnable games to come in the next few weeks. Southampton and Bournemouth are on the horizon in the league before Liverpool come to the Emirates at the end of October.


Will there be a 5th member of the "Arsenal hat-trick scorers vs Leicester" club? Will Gabriel Martinelli score for the 3rd game in a row against Leicester? Will that Red Bull swigging shithouse score for the 12th time against the Gunners?


Let's hope that last one doesn't come to fruition anyway...


 
 
 

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