Today in the "Premier" league, the second round of matches continues. In the central match of the day, the teams that finished in the first two places in the league last season, "Leicester City" and "Arsenal", will test their strength, as they both do not have any points after the first round.
"Leicester City" - "Arsenal"
Match time and location:
August 20th at 19:30, at the "King Power" stadium. The match will be broadcasted live on Viasat Sport Baltic channel.
What's new in the teams' camps:
Robert Huth returns to the "Leicester City" team after missing the last three "Premier" league matches due to suspension, so the team will have all their players available.
Meanwhile, the situation in the "Arsenal" team is much worse - injured defenders Gabriel and Per Mertesacker, midfielders Alex Iwobi and Aaron Ramsey, and forward Danny Welbeck. Due to this reason, three players who participated in the European Championship - Laurent Koscielny, Mesut Ozil and Olivier Giroud - might miss the match due to late joining the team and still facing physical issues.
Coaches' comments at the pre-match press conference:
Claudio Ranieri ("Leicester City"): "Now we are in the Champions League and we will need a bit more to play against the strongest teams. Now everyone knows that I am expecting more than last year. Mahrez signed a four-year contract, I signed a four-year contract, because we want to continue building this club. This is not only my wish or Riyad's, but also Jamie Vardy, Kasper Schmeichel, and others. This is very good."
Arsene Wenger ("Arsenal"): "There are many players who want to join us. Even those who are leaving our team, 99.5% want to come back to our club. It is not difficult for us to attract players. You are convinced that I do not want to spend money, but I can guarantee that I am ready to spend it. I am against those who think that winning can only be achieved by buying. Buying alone does not bring quality; you need to buy quality players. I think that's why this club was built."
Interesting facts about this match:
"Leicester City" has not won in 19 consecutive matches against "Arsenal" (6 draws, 13 losses). They lost both matches against this opponent last season.
During the last 34 games between these teams, "Leicester City" celebrated victory only once - in 1994 in the first ever match between these teams in the "Premier" league;
In the last 27 matches between these teams, "Arsenal" failed to score a goal only once - in January 2001, when the match ended 0-0;
Last week, "Leicester City" became the first team in the "Premier" league to lose their first match of the new season after winning the previous season's title. The last time English champions stumbled in the first round before the creation of the "Premier" league was in 1989, done by "Arsenal". The last time champions lost two matches in a row in England was even earlier - in 1981;
Since the start of the 2015-2016 season, "The Foxes" have scored eleven penalties. This is the best result in the league;
Since last year's start, "Leicester City" without Robert Huth played four matches and never managed to keep their goal "dry";
The next victory for "The Foxes" will be the 100th Claudio Ranieri victory in his coaching career in the "Premier" league;
Since the 1992-1993 season, "Arsenal" has never lost their first two matches of the season in the "Premier" league;
In the last round, "Arsenal" conceded four goals at home for the first time since 2009. This was only the third time in their "Premier" league history when they allow the opponents to score more than three goals at home;
The loss against "Liverpool" ended "The Gunners" ten-match unbeaten streak;
In the "King Power" stadium, Alexis Sanchez scored four goals in the last two matches.
