English Premier
2025-08-23 - Arsenal vs Leeds United
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Saturday 23rd August 2025 - Kick Off 5:30pm
This game is live on TV
Arsenal
It may not have been a performance that will be remembered fondly, but winning football matches when not at your best is the kind of resiliency and character that makes Champions. Ultimately that is the aim for Mikel Arteta and his Arsenal team after three consecutive 2nd place finishes and the 0-1 win at Manchester United is a very solid start to the latest bid to top the Premier League.
With that in mind, it is also clear that Arsenal can play much better than what they showed last weekend and having another week of training under the feet will only help. The 11-6-2 record at the Emirates Stadium last season makes decent enough reading for Arsenal, but they finished with 9 fewer home points than Champions Liverpool and so a stronger record will be needed.
Arsenal are unbeaten in 4 Premier League games and they have won 3 on a row following the victory at Old Trafford. The Gunners had not won any of 4 games at the Emirates Stadium in all competitions before ending that run in a narrow 1-0 win over Newcastle United.
Christian Norgaard is a doubt and Gabriel Jesus is still a long-term absentee. The concern for Arsenal fans is an injury suffered by Kai Havertz in training, which is expected to see him miss this weekend as the club determines the full extent of the issue.
Leeds United
The owners of Leeds United have big ambitions for this club and those will only be realised by reestablishing themselves in the Premier League. Investment has been made in the summer and more incomings are expected, while the crowd certainly helped in pushing Leeds United onto a 1-0 home win over Everton in the Premier League opener.
Daniel Farke will be very pleased with the overall Leeds United performance, but they may still need someone to put the finishing touches to the football being played. Chances were created against Everton, but it was a slightly controversial penalty that ended up being the difference between the clubs and there are plenty of tough tests to come over the course of this campaign.
Leeds United are not only unbeaten in 11 games in all competitions, but the victory over Everton makes it 7 straight for the team. The side were beaten at Portsmouth in March, but Leeds United are unbeaten in 5 on their travels and have won 3 in a row ahead of the first away Premier League game since May 2023.
Jaka Bijol is available having served a suspension, while Ethan Ampadu is expected to overcome the knock suffered on Monday evening.
Head to Head
Arsenal did the Premier League double over Leeds United in the 2022/23 season.
The Gunners have won 6 in a row at home against this opponent.
Prediction
After all of the shots they had to absorb from Manchester United, it would be typical of football for Arsenal to concede from the first effort they face on Saturday.
The victory at Old Trafford saw Arsenal have to dig deep, but this should be a more comfortable afternoon with the team likely to have much of the ball and facing an opponent that has just been promoted from the Championship.
Leeds United might have shown some of their qualities in the 1-0 win over Everton, but Daniel Farke will be aware that they still need more if they are going to avoid an immediate relegation. For all of the attacking football, Leeds United needed a somewhat controversial penalty to be awarded to them to break the deadlock and they won't find it any easier against arguably the best defence in the Premier League.
The three points on the board can help Leeds United arrive in North London without too much pressure and anything they achieve here would be seen as a bonus.
However, it will be tough to contain Arsenal in front of their own supporters, even if Kai Havertz is ruled out. That will reduce some of the attacking options available to Mikel Arteta, but there are still plenty of players capable of making the difference for the home team.
Beating the newly promoted clubs in home games is expected from Arsenal and they did that last season against Southampton, Leicester City and Ipswich Town.
Only one of those games ended with a clean sheet, but Arsenal largely kept those opponents at arm's length and they can do the same against Leeds United on Saturday.
Twelve months ago, Arsenal opened the season with consecutive wins and with clean sheets in both victories and they can do the same here.
Leeds United will be encouraged by the fact that Southampton and Leicester City scored here last season, but they may need more composure in the final third than they had last Monday. Ultimately the away team are not going to have the same number of shots as they were able to put together against Everton and this Arsenal team should find a way to break down Leeds United and put another clean sheet on the board.
The price is more appealing than backing The Gunners to win by two or more goals, although that is another option with a 2-0 scoreline perhaps the most likely on the day.
Only 6 of the 11 home wins secured by Arsenal were by more than a single goal margin, and none of the last 3 home League wins were by more than one goal, but 7 of 19 home League games ended in clean sheets and at odds against, it looks worth backing The Gunners to earn the three points thanks to another solid defensive outing.
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