Arsenal will face the challenge of Leicester City away from home on Saturday 20th August as they try and get their season up and running. The Gunners’ defence was left shattered by Liverpool on the opening weekend where the North London club had to leave their own stadium empty handed as the visitors grabbed an important victory and all the three points.
On the other hand, Leicester City began their own title defence with an opening day loss to newly promoted Hull City. Both teams thus will be desperate and avoid dropping any more points and get behind their competitors further when they will square up to each other. Despite their problems, Arsenal are the favourites to beat the current champions and let’s look at the 3 reasons why the Gunners can win the match at the King Power.
Return Of Koscielny
The return of Arsenal’s defensive stalwart Laurent Koscielny would be a massive boost for the team and one which will immediately solve most of the defensive problems prevalent regarding the starting line-up. With Koscielny in the squad, the Arsenal starting XI would be much stronger and more equipped to deal with the attacking threat of the visitors.
The Gunners do have the option of fielding Xhaka and Coquelin as the double 6 in front of the back four to provide even more defensive stability and cover which if utilised would be more than enough to hold off the current Leicester team.
Santi Cazorla In The Hole
Arsenal’s Spanish magician, Santi Cazorla is according to many the biggest asset to the squad. Cazorla has transformed his game a lot to play as a deep-lying playmaker increasing his defensive discipline and work rate but he is primarily a player who excels in the attacking segment. The ambi-footed Spaniard is very capable of producing stunning strikes from a distance along with playing delightful through balls for his teammates to pounce on.
Cazorla is likely to feature just in behind the striker as an advanced playmaker at the King Power. Since his arrival, no other player has given more assists in the Premier League than the diminutive playmaker and on Saturday he can make the difference once again playing in an advanced position, because of the injury to Ramsey, after a very nice recuperation period in the summer and a very good pre-season.
Bounce Back Ability
One of the biggest characteristics of the Arsenal team under Arsene Wenger over the years apart from their breathtaking consistency has been their ability to bounce back right after a setback. The team irrespective of its composition of players has proved their doubters wrong by producing a response after a bad loss, which has kept the team ticking and moving forward in the Premier League.
With all the defensive problems and injury problems, the Gunners have been able to surprise their critics by producing some of their best performances when their backs were up against the wall and they were considered to be down and out. After the disappointing loss against Liverpool at home the stage is set for Arsenal to produce one such inspired response which will fuel their season as they look to finally cross the final hurdle by going one step forward in the league from where they finished last season.
