Leicester vs Arsenal: Three selections for the early kick-off

Two of the league’s more ‘in-form’ sides go head-to-head on Saturday afternoon, as Leicester welcome Arsenal to the King Power Stadium for the early kick-off.

People often say you shouldn’t back the early kick-off, but it proved profitable for us last week as Ben Chilwell struck Chelsea’s fourth goal against Norwich inside the hour to bring home 6/5 and 10/1 winners for us, so we’re going again.

When Arsenal sunk to a 5-0 defeat at Manchester City at the start of the season, it left them joint-bottom of the Premier League after three games and it was hard to see a short-term future for Mikel Arteta, never mind a long-term one.

He’s overseen a monumental turnaround though, with the Gunners unbeaten in eight games, and his side has propelled themselves 10 points clear of the drop zone to be nipping at the heels of those in the top-six.

It’s the young players that are leading the way for him; with Emile Smith-Rowe and Bukayo Saka doing the business for him at the top end of the pitch, whilst trio of summer signings Aaron Ramsdale, Ben White, and Takehiro Tomiyasu - alongside Scotland full-back Kieran Tierney - have prevented their defence from leaking goals.

The real kicker for Arsenal has been the return to form of Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang, who has scored four goals in his last six Premier League starts, after managing just two in the 11 before that - with the winning goal against Norwich and ‘difference-makers’ against Spurs, Crystal Palace and Aston Villa.

If Aubameyang’s hit a purple-patch, the last three or four years of Jamie Vardy’s career have been one big purple patch. The striker just scores goals, relentlessly.

With seven in nine games already this season, his current rate of 0.83 goals per 90 is the best of his time in the top flight and is proof that he’s just getting better with age, just as it looks like Leicester have his successor ready in Patson Daka.

The former Salzburg man, who played alongside Erling Haaland for a while, may as well have been built in the mould of the man he’s looking to succeed. With sublime running in behind and an affinity to shoot-on-site, it’s likely he’ll be giving opposition defenders nightmares for a long time.

The Zambian really announced himself with all four goals in Leicester’s 4-3 Europa League win at Spartak Moscow, and has scored once and generated an impressive 0.9xG in just 86 minutes of Premier League action. The problem for Leicester is that, whilst they can’t stop scoring, they also can’t stop conceding either.

With Wesley Fofana, James Justin, and Wilfred Ndidi’s long-term injuries ruling them out of this game, the Foxes are having to use a somewhat makeshift three-at-the-back formation which leaves Caglar Soyuncu and Jannik Vestegaard exposed to being dragged into one-on-one battles in the channels.

It’s part of the reason Brendan Rodgers’ side haven’t kept a clean sheet since the opening day, and they got lucky in registering that one, and should give Arsenal hope despite the fact they’ve only scored once in their four away league games.

Emile Smith-Rowe 1+ Shot On Target @ 6/5 with Unibet

Smith-Rowe has become an ever-present in Arteta’s side this season and it’s fair to say he’s been enjoying himself in that role, with two goals and two assists in his last four starts.

The youngster has started all nine of their Premier League matches this term, and has managed a shot on target in eight of them. Only three sides have allowed more shots on target than Leicester this season, and they all currently sit in the bottom four of the division.

Jamie Vardy to Score Anytime @ 13/8 with bet365

I mentioned above about the season Vardy is having, but what I didn’t mention was who his favourite opponents are.

You guessed it, Arsenal. Against no side has Vardy scored more goals than he has against them. In fact, in 12 league starts against the Gunners (since 2015) he’s scored an unbelievable 11 goals. 13/8 is a daft price, especially given he’s 11/10 elsewhere.

Jamie Vardy to Score Anytime and Albert Sambi Lokonga to be carded @ 12/1 with bet365

Adding Lokonga to find himself in trouble with referee Michael Oliver gives us a nice 12/1 BetBuilder double here.

The Belgian has picked up three bookings despite only starting five games for his new side, and could be in trouble up against Leicester’s midfield.

Youri Tielemans and James Maddison have each been fouled 15 times already this season and, with the onus on him to disrupt their play, he’ll have to be on his best behaviour to avoid a card.