English Premier
2025-02-15 - Leicester City vs Arsenal
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Saturday 15th February 2025 - Kick Off 12:30pm
This game is live on TV
Leicester City
Ruud van Nistelrooy described it as 'offside time' when a journalist asked him what it felt like to be on the wrong side of a 'Fergie time' Manchester United winning goal in the FA Cup Fourth Round last Friday. The manager and the Leicester City players will have been frustrated by the end of that tie, but the full focus will now be on the Premier League and finding a way to consolidate back at this level.
The Wolves win over Aston Villa earlier this month has pushed Leicester City back down into 18th place in the Premier League table, but van Nistelrooy's main focus will be on a much improved performance following the 4-0 League loss at Goodison Park. The Foxes are 2 points from safety, but play before their main relegation rivals this weekend as Leicester City bid to improve the 2-3-7 record at the King Power Stadium.
Leicester City's late loss at Old Trafford means they have been beaten in 9 of their last 11 games in all competitions, although both exceptions have been wins over Queens Park Rangers and Tottenham Hotspur. The win over QPR in the FA Cup Third Round is the one positive of recent results at the King Power Stadium and Leicester City are bidding to avoid a fifth straight Premier League here, while the team have not scored in any of their last 4 League games at the King Power Stadium.
Jannik Vestergaard, Victor Kristiansen and Jamie Vardy are all expected to be available for selection.
Arsenal
Losing in the League Cup Semi Final Second Leg ended Arsenal's hopes of winning a domestic Cup, but the squad made use of the early FA Cup exit to get some warm weather training into the legs. There is still so much for Mikel Arteta and the players to achieve and Arsenal will be looking to keep the pressure on Premier League leaders Liverpool by playing this fixture twenty-four hours before the latter host Wolves.
Before that, the Merseyside derby will have been played and Arsenal may be a lot more than 6 points behind Liverpool at the top of the table when this game kicks off on Saturday. All The Gunners can do is focus on their own results with fourteen League games to play and they will be looking to improve their 6-4-2 away record in the Premier League.
Arsenal dropped two big points in the 2-2 draw with Aston Villa, but had won 4 in a row in all competitions before the 2-0 loss at Newcastle United earlier this month. That is the second time Arsenal have been beaten at St James' Park this season, but they are unbeaten in 7 away Premier League games since November and the side have won 3 of their last 4 on their travels.
Missing out on the League Cup Final came at an additional cost with Gabriel Martinelli picking up a hamstring injury that will keep him out for the rest of the month. Ben White could return this weekend, while Bukayo Saka is trending in a positive direction and may be available before the March international break, which is ahead of schedule. The biggest news of all out of the return from warm weather training in Dubai is the reports that Kai Havertz has picked up an injury that could see him miss the rest of the season.
Head to Head
Two injury time goals helped Arsenal beat Leicester City 4-2 at the Emirates Stadium at the end of September.
Arsenal have won 4 in a row at the King Power Stadium.
Prediction
Fans will not be happy that Arsenal are out of both domestic Cup competitions, but it has opened up a window for the squad to get away into warmer climates and just reset ahead of the next big push both domestically and in Europe.
The 2-0 defeat at St James' Park in the League Cup Semi Final Second Leg meant Arsenal were comfortably dismissed by Newcastle United across two Legs, but there is so much for them to achieve.
Pressure has been built up in the Premier League after Arsenal have perhaps settled for too many draws and allowed Liverpool to maintain a big gap- that could be even bigger than the 6 points it currently stands at if Liverpool are able to win on Wednesday evening at Everton in the last Merseyside derby to be played at Goodison Park.
Even if that happens, Arsenal have to be focusing on their own results and likely need to win at least 12 of the remaining 14 League games to have any real hope of closing Liverpool down. That will likely need to include a win at Anfield later in the season, but the players will return to England looking to make a positive start at the home of a club struggling to avoid the drop.
Arsenal are going to be without some key attacking players, but there is still enough quality within the squad to believe they can get the better of Leicester City.
Ruud van Nistelrooy was extremely frustrated after watching the manner in which his team were beaten at Old Trafford in the FA Cup Fourth Round, although the performance was one that offer some encouragement. It does mean Leicester City have lost 9 of 11 games in all competitions, while the team have struggled to compete at the King Power Stadium where they have suffered 4 home League defeats in a row.
Simply put, Leicester City are conceding too many goals and not finding enough out of the attacking players.
Losing 4-0 at Goodison Park in their last Premier League game would have severely dented some of the confidence and Leicester City have been pretty well beaten when they have hosted some of the stronger clubs in the Division.
They may be encouraged by some of the absences in the Arsenal attacking third, but The Gunners should still have enough to secure three points here and at least make sure they are doing their part when it comes to trying to track down the League leaders.
Mikel Arteta’s team are going to have to focus on being defensively sound, especially while the likes of Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli are missing and Arsenal may keep Leicester City at arm’s length in a victory in the early Saturday kick off.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Leicester City 0-1 Arsenal
FIXED ODDS BETTING TIP :
I'll back Arsenal to Win & Under 4 Total Goals (Bet Builder) at 2.05 with Bet365 (early payout if a team is leading by two goals)
