How Leicester City flourished against an extremely poor Arsenal side

1 of 3

LEICESTER, ENGLAND – APRIL 28: Youri Tielemans of Leicester City scores their 1st goal as Bernd Leno of Arsenal looks on during the Premier League match between Leicester City and Arsenal FC at The King Power Stadium on April 28, 2019 in Leicester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images) /

Foxes of Leicester analyse how Brendan Rodgers’ vastly improved Leicester City conquered Arsenal, beating them in every department.

The dream of Europa League football seems to be drifting further and further away from Leicester City with every set of fixtures. A disappointing set of results, versus West Ham United & Newcastle United, have surely sealed the fate of no European football at the King Power Stadium for another year, although one can always dream.

The first of the three tough remaining fixtures for Leicester City in the Premier League began at the King Power Stadium with Arsenal. The Gunners have struggled on the road this season, an issue Unai Emery hasn’t solved during his first full season in charge, but if history dictates the result, Arsenal have always seemingly done well against Leicester, even in their title-winning season Arsenal did the double over them.

An internal battle for Arsenal and Unai Emery was assuring a result against Leicester, without fatiguing key-players for their Europa League semi-final against Valencia. Emery’s men are also fighting a losing battle with the injury list and are still yet to find a suitable replacement for the long-term injury of Hector Bellerin.

All factors considered, Emery opted for a defensive 4-4-2. Granit Xhaka and Lucas Torreira centrally sitting deep, with offensive-minded wingers in Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Alexander Iwobi.

Leicester countered that system with a combative 4-2-3-1, seemingly becoming one of Brendan Rodgers favourite formation with the foxes, helped by the familiarisation the players already have with the formation after Puel’s tenure.