Arsenal vs Leicester City. Premier League.
Emirates StadiumAttendance59,829.
Wednesday 26 April 2017 19:06, UK
Arsenal will check on the fitness of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain ahead of the visit of Leicester on Wednesday.
The England midfielder suffered a foot injury during the FA Cup semi-final win over Manchester City and left Wembley on crutches, but manager Arsene Wenger confirmed that was just a precaution.
A victory for Arsenal on Wednesday would move them to within four points of fourth-place Manchester City, who face Manchester United live on Sky Sports on Thursday.
The Gunners still hold hopes of securing a top-four finish this season and boast an excellent recent record against Leicester, who will be without captain Wes Morgan due to a hamstring problem.
Arsenal have won each of their last nine Premier League home matches against the Foxes.
Team news
Arsenal attacker Chamberlain will undergo a fitness test to determine his availability.
David Ospina (back), Shkodran Mustafi and Lucas Perez (both thigh) are still missing along with Santi Cazorla (Achilles), who will not play again this season.
Morgan's hamstring issue means he will miss Leicester's trip, while Nampalys Mendy's season is over following an ankle operation.
Morgan came off late on in the Foxes' Champions League quarter-final exit to Atletico Madrid last week and midfielder Mendy has undergone surgery on a floating bone in his ankle.
Robert Huth will return after being banned for the 1-1 draw with Atletico, with Leicester going out 2-1 on aggregate, while Islam Slimani continues to be sidelined with a groin injury.
Opta facts
Leicester are on a 20-game winless run against Arsenal in the Premier League (D7 L13), with their only win against the Gunners coming in their first ever Premier League encounter in November 1994 (2-1 victory).
If the Gunners beat the Foxes, it will equal their longest home winning streak against a single club (10 successive wins against Everton between Jan 1997 - Sept 2005).
Theo Walcott has found the net in three of his four Premier League appearances against Leicester, including in both home games.
Jamie Vardy has scored Leicester City's last three goals against Arsenal in the Premier League, scoring the opening goal twice. However, he is yet to end up on the winning side.
Vardy has scored seven goals in 10 competitive games for Leicester under Craig Shakespeare, this after netting seven goals in 32 games in 2016-17 under Claudio Ranieri for the Foxes.
Alexis Sanchez has now scored 19 Premier League goals this season; equalling his best-ever tally in a single league season (19 with Barcelona in 2013-14).
Should Sanchez score another Premier League goal this season, he'll be the fifth Arsenal player to score 20+ goals in a PL campaign after Thierry Henry (5 times), Ian Wright (2 times), Robin van Persie and Emmanuel Adebayor. Robin van Persie was the last to do this (30 goals in 2011-12).
The Gunners will be looking to win back-to-back Premier League matches for the first time in over three months (January 22 2017), following their 2-1 win at Middlesbrough in their previous game.
Leicester have scored at least two goals in every one of their seven Premier League matches under Craig Shakespeare (17 goals in total). Their previous 17 Premier League goals came over a period of 20 matches.
Merson's prediction
This will be a tricky game for Arsenal. Leicester will be up for it but at the same time Arsenal will be in a determined mood to get a result, especially after Liverpool's defeat to Crystal Palace. That defeat opened the race for the top four wide open.
If Liverpool had beaten Palace, I think Arsenal may have put all their efforts into winning the FA Cup. Now, if they can beat Leicester, they can give themselves a real chance of finishing in the top four.
I know they've got a massive game against Tottenham on Super Sunday but after that, they haven't got the worst run-in. Things can change very quickly in football. After Sunday's win, Arsene Wenger is now manager of the year, isn't he?
Credit where credit's due, though, because that was a massive confidence-restoring win for Arsenal and Arsene.
The goal they let in was U10s defending but they came back against a good Manchester City team. It was a big, big football result for Arsenal and for the manager, and it will propel them to a win over Leicester.
PAUL PREDICTS: 3-1
Betting
Arsenal are Sky Bet's 8/13 favourites for the victory, with Leicester 19/5, while the draw is priced at 100/30.
Wenger's side were cut from 8/1 to 6/1 to secure a top-four finish after seeing Liverpool slip up while they reached the FA Cup final, which they are 11/5 to win.
Alexis heads the first goalscorer betting at 100/30, while Vardy is rated the visitors' main threat at 7/1.
