Arsenal face Leicester City in the Premier League on Saturday and the Gunners go into this game expecting to pick up all three points.
The Gunners have failed to qualify for Europe this season and according to former City striker Jermaine Beckford, this has given the North London side a massive cushion.
“When you take into account how many European games come into play, this Arsenal team don’t need to worry about that, they don’t need to focus on that anymore,” he told Sky Sports ahead of Arsenal’s Carabao Cup clash vs Leeds on Tuesday, as quoted.
“It gives some of the fringe players that opportunity to really try their hardest to impress Arteta and ruffle a few feathers.”
Will Arsenal really have the upper hand vs Leicester City?
Arsenal did play in midweek, in the Carabao Cup, but in that match, Mikel Arteta mostly used fringe players meaning his first-team regulars will be properly rested for the Leicester City clash.
Also, Leicester City play their EFL Cup game on Wednesday so they have 24 hours less to recover and this could be a really crucial factor when you’re playing in a Saturday lunchtime kickoff.
To make matters worse, the Foxes are missing some important with injuries and they will be absent for the Arsenal game as well. This means Brendan Rodgers can make very limited changes in midweek vs Brighton.
Leicester City have players like James Justin, Ndidi and Albrighton ruled out but their manager has still claimed that he’ll be making changes to his first XI.
“There’s no doubt (we will make changes),” Rodgers said. “We can’t use the same players all the time, so we’ll definitely make changes, but it doesn’t take away the fact we want to win the game.”
The winds are clearly blowing in favour of Arsenal and if their players can sync well then they should be going back home with all three points.
But having said that, Leicester City have won three out of their previous three meetings against Arsenal so the Gunners do have a proper fight on their hands.
