Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Arsenal have no new injury worries ahead of the visit of league leaders Leicester City on Sunday.
Francis Coquelin is pushing for a recall, while Danny Welbeck could be included for the first time this season following a long-term knee injury.
Leicester are expected to be unchanged, with January signing Daniel Amartey still not under consideration as he builds up his fitness.
Long-term absentees Jeff Schlupp and Matty James are not ready to return.
Editor’s Note: Here we are two thirds of the season in and you can forget Valentines Day as what is arguably the biggest day of the Premier League so far has finally arrived. It’s Arsenal versus Leicester and it could be a defining moment in the race for the title.
Leicester continue to defy the critics and have opened up a 5 point gap over both Tottenham and Arsenal, if result goes there way they could extend that lead even further and throw down a real marker in terms of their title aspirations. Last Weekend they ran Manchester City off the park as they secured a sensational 3-1 win at The Etihad, they’ve cleared one hurdle can they now clear another?
That hurdle is the form of Arsenal side who finally got back to winning ways in the League last Sunday away at Bournemouth, it wasn’t the most convincing of performances but Arsene Wenger will be glad that they came away from the Vitality Stadium with all 3 points. The Gunners rode their luck at times and were very fortunate not to have Mathieu Flamini sent off for a two footed tackle but the gulf in talent shone through and strikes from Mesut Ozil and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain proved to be the difference.
Arsenal’s slump prior to that has seen them fall behind their most hated rivals Tottenham albeit on Goal Difference but a win today could resolve that depending on how things pan out at The Etihad. Much will be asked of Mesut Ozil Today but will he be unsettled by the story in the Spanish and German press of his apparent desire not to sign a new contract and leave The Emirates at the end of the season.
If that was to happen that would probably be caused by Arsenal not winning the League and if that was to happen that it would probably be Leicester that are a cause of it. The Foxes are now just 13 games away from the title and with them only having to focus on League competition then they are rightly in the box seat in terms of bookmaker odds.
Last week Robert Huth bagged a brace and Riyad Mahrez scored a stunning strike to put Leicester 3-0 up and that was the day where people finally said to themselves that Leicester have a real title chance. For every month that has passed we’ve been saying, they’ll fall away soon but they keep defying the critics. They are in for the long haul, the question is how far will they go?
With Manchester United losing at Sunderland Yesterday, they could stretch the Top 4 gap even further Today and all but secure a Champions League place for next season. But if they do win, then the only thing that will be on Claudio Ranieri’s mind will be going for the title and right now who would bet against them
I’m not going to bet against them as such but I don’t quite think they will replicate last weekends Etihad blitzkrieg, Arsenal will be glad they have awoken out of their slump at just the right time in a game they can’t afford to lose. I’m going to go for a draw which will benefit Leicester more than it will Arsenal. Honours even for me.
