Arsenal Strongest Possible Lineup vs Leicester City: 4-2-3-1 with Alexis to Storm the Party

Arsenal welcomes Leicester City to the Emirates
Stadium Sunday morning in a top of the table
clash. Leicester, the surprise league leaders, are
playing outstandingly, with their 3-1 win over
Manchester City last weekend serving as the perfect
example why the Foxes find themselves in 1 st.
Arsenal is coming off a good 2-0 win away at
Bournemouth . The result came after a series of
disappointing draws, as well as a loss to Chelsea , which
saw the Gunners slip from 1 st, to 4 th , and now tied for
2 nd with Tottenham .
Although Leicester is in superior form, Arsenal has a
tendency to end seasons strong. With Leicester not
playing another top-four team until May, this is a must
win match for the London club.
In the earlier fixture between these two clubs this
season, Arsenal came out 5-2 winners, making them
one of two teams to have defeated Leicester in the
league this season. Alexis exploded into form in that
match with the Chilean notching a hat trick before
Jamie Vardy brought his club back to within three
goals.
The stage is set yet again for Alexis to explode onto the
scene against the same club he punished in September.
The Chilean recently returned from a two month lay off
and has not quite found his peak form yet. The
importance of this match could push Alexis to shed the
rust he’s showed this past month, considering he has a
habit for showing up in big matches.
On the topic of players returning from injury, Arsene
Wenger spoke to the press in the build up to this match.
He revealed that Danny Welbeck is just short of fitness
for this weekend , but is likely to feature the following
weekend against Hull City in the FA Cup.
The manager also discussed the fitness of Jack
Wilshere and Santi Cazorla , who are both running and
weeks away from playing. Mohamed Elneny also
makes a return to the squad after being absent the past
due to the birth of his first child. Other than that,
everyone is fit for this weekend.
Here is Arsenal’s most probable starting lineup.
Goalkeeper – Cech
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Petr Cech claimed his 12 th clean sheet of the season
last weekend. He pulled off a number of clutch saves
late in the game, keeping Bournemouth out of reach.
Cech and the back four will be very aware of Leicester’s
ability to counter quickly. The commanding keeper will
be especially attentive to the long balls that Leicester
loves to play to Vardy and Riyad Mahrez .
Right Back – Bellerin
Hector Bellerin’s pace will be valuable in this match
because of Leicester’s aforementioned ability to quickly
transition. It’s possible we may see less of an
attacking Bellerin in this match and more of a
defensive-minded one. That will likely be dictated by
the flow of the game.
Center Backs – Koscielny & Gabriel
Laurent Koscielny and Gabriel will continue their run
together in the center of Arsenal’s back four. The
Brazilian has kept Per Mertesacker out of the squad
since the towering German was sent off against
Chelsea.
Wenger praised Gabriel’s performances this past week
and commented on the Brazilian increasing confidence.
While Gabriel has been impressive the past few weeks,
he regularly finds himself to be a part of one nerve
racking moment per game.
Mertesacker’s experience would be valuable in this
game. The German’s ability to read the field and
prevent players from getting past him would prove
helpful against a fast team like Leicester City.
However, Wenger will likely prefer the pace of Gabriel
and Koscielny over the slow Mertesacker, in an attempt
to minimize the damage Vardy and Mahrez could cause
via long balls.
Left Back – Monreal
Nacho Monreal had his first non-descript match of the
season last weekend. His performance did not stand
out as a poor one, however, he did not show the same
conviction he has done this season.
Monreal’s matchup against Mahrez will be pivotal in
this match. The Spaniard is certainly up for the
challenge, and has so far dealt with everything thrown
at him this season.
Defensive Mid – Coquelin
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Wenger has been hesitant to start Francis Coquelin
since the French midfielder’s return from injury. Much
of that has to do with fitness, with the manager being a
good judge of whether Coquelin is ready or not.
At some point, Coquelin has to start regularly in place
of Mathieu Flamini . Flamini has done an adequate job
in place of Coquelin, but his influence on the pitch is
limited and his partnership with Aaron Ramsey is
starting to weaken.
Considering the magnitude of this match, it’s very likely
Coquelin is reintroduced into the first team for good.
Coquelin’s inclusion in the starting eleven would be a
huge boost to this Arsenal squad.
Central Mid – Ramsey
Ramsey was in superb form last weekend. He showed
improved defensive discipline, something that had been
lacking the past month, and was involved in both of
Arsenal’s goals. The first one, the Welsh midfielder
floated in a nice cross to Olivier Giroud who headed
down for Mesut Özil to smash into the top of the net.
Ramsey assisted Alex-Oxlade Chamberlain on the
second goal with a nice lay-off that allowed Oxlade-
Chamberlain to receive the ball in stride.
Ramsey will have to exhibit a great amount of
defensive discipline in this match, as Leicester will look
to catch Arsenal on the break. Coquelin’s presence in
the squad will be of great help to Ramsey.
Attacking Mid – Özil
Özil was in superb form last weekend. He scored
Arsenal’s first with an authoritative right-footed volley.
The rest of the match he found himself on the ball
often, finding his teammates in dangerous positions,
and looking to get on the ball at all times. Overall it was
a very typical Özil performance.
Özil will have an important role to play in this
weekend’s match. Tomas Rosicky highlighted the
quality of Özil this week and indicated that where Özil
goes, Arsenal goes.
Wide Right – Oxlade-Chamberlain
Oxlade-Chamberlain started ahead of Joel Campbell
and Theo Walcott last weekend. The Englishman got
his first goal since he scored against Chelsea in
August, with a well-placed finish that clanged in off of
the far post. He wasn’t entirely affective the rest of the
match, but he showed willingness to defend and didn’t
do much wrong.
His goal last weekend could serve as a needed
confidence booster for the rest of the season. Oxlade-
Chamberlain has struggled this season and seems to
playing with too much effort and self-criticism. A few
weeks ago, Wenger acknowledged that Oxlade-
Chamberlain is his own biggest critic and maybe he
needs to get out of his own head.
Oxlade-Chamberlain could be an incredibly important
force down the road and a hot streak of form could
propel Arsenal to end the year on a high.
Wide Left – Alexis
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As mentioned above, Alexis exploded against Leicester
last time these two teams met. He finds himself a
similar situation this weekend. He is still looking for
peak form after returning from injury and the feeling is
he is only a game or two away from completely
breaking out.
The Chilean has scored in large bunches this season.
Right now would be a good time for one of those
bunches to make an appearance.
Striker – Giroud
Giroud claimed an assist last weekend. He set Özil up
well with a clean header that fell right in his German
teammate’s path.