Leicester City Vs Arsenal Prediction: Injury Storm Hits, Gunners Target Three Points

Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard, Arsenal's hopes of taking the three points (photo: x @Arsenal)

JAKARTA - After an unfavorable journey from Dubai, Arsenal will play their first match in 10 days. On Saturday 15 February they travel to the King Power Stadium to face Leicester City in the Premier League continued.

The Gunners have not returned to action since being defeated by Newcastle United in the EFL Cup semifinals, while Leicester City suffered a controversial defeat to Manchester United in last week's FA Cup.

Mikel Arteta and his troops seem to have thought about a holiday to the Middle East since they destroyed Manchester City with a landslide score of 5-1. However, they performed poorly in the second leg of the EFL Cup semi-final against Newcastle, where Arsenal's defense led by William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, and David Raya looked very vulnerable.

Now, Arsenal only have the Premier League and Champions League to catch up to the end of the season. Usually, they come back from the break of the season with new spirit, but bad news comes from Kai Havertz who suffered a severe hamstring injury and had to miss until the end of the season. Havertz's loss was a major blow to Arsenal who failed to bring in new strikers on the January transfer window.

Meanwhile, Liverpool's draw against Everton in the Merseyside derby gave Arsenal little hope, but they remain seven points behind the Reds despite playing the same number of matches. However, Arsenal have a record unbeaten record in their last 14 Premier League games, the best record since the Arsene Wenger era in the 2010-11 season.

On the other hand, Leicester City, who is now under the care of Ruud van Nistelrooy, suffered bad luck when they were knocked out by Manchester United in the FA Cup. Harry Maguire scored the winning goal in the final minute even though the replay showed he was in an offside position. Unfortunately, without VAR, the judge's decision remains in effect, making Leicester have to accept a heavy-hearted defeat.

Now, Leicester are back focused on their struggles in the relegation zone. Being ranked 18th with a two-point difference from the safe zone, The Foxes have a poor record at home with four consecutive defeats at King Power without scoring a single goal.

If they lose again without scoring a goal, Leicester will match Norwich City's record in the 2019-20 season as the only team to experience five consecutive home defeats without scoring a goal.

In addition, their last meeting against Arsenal at the Emirates ended in a 4-2 defeat, leaving Leicester six defeats in a row against the Gunners in the Premier League.

Apart from Kai Havertz, Arsenal also lost Gabriel Martinelli who suffered a hamstring injury in the match against Newcastle. Martinelli's injury is not as bad as Havertz, but he is expected to be out for several weeks. Gabriel Jesus (ACL injury) and Bukayo Saka (hamstring injury) also had to be sidelined in the long term, so Arteta lacked options in attack.

Ethan Nwaneri will most likely be given the opportunity to appear with Leandro Trossard and Raheem Sterling up front, unless Nathan Butler-Oyedeji gets a debut surprise. Meanwhile, Takehiro Tomiyasu may need knee surgery, but Ben White has recovered and trained fully in Dubai, opening up opportunities to return to the Arsenal squad.

In the Leicester camp, they are still waiting for confirmation of Jamie Vardy's condition. This veteran forward has an impressive record against Arsenal with 11 goals in the Premier League, only losing to Wayne Rooney (12) and Harry Kane (14).

Jannik Vestergaard and Victor Kristiansen are also still in doubt of appearing, while Ricardo Pereira will be out for a few more weeks. Abdul Fatawu, who suffered a severe knee injury, is certainly not going to play again this season.

Bobby Decordova-Reid who scored against Manchester United is predicted to fill Leicester's attack line. Former Arsenal academy player!EY Mavididi, who previously won the trust of Van Nistelrooy, has now begun to be knocked out of the main squad.

With the condition of both teams experiencing injury problems, Arsenal remains a favorite thanks to their impressive record in the Premier League. Leicester, despite playing at home, has a bad record at King Power and has yet to show signs of a comeback. The Gunners who want to rise from defeat in the EFL Cup are likely to take control of the game.

Leicester City (4-2-3-1): Hermansen; Justin, Okoli, Faes, Thomas; Ndidi, Soumare; Decordova-Reid, El Khannouss, Ayew; Vardy

Arsenal (4-3-3):Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly; Odegaard, Partey, Rice; Nwaneri, Trossard, Sterling

Score prediction: Leicester City 1-3 Arsenal