After suffering a painful North London derby day defeat, Arsene Wenger is expecting a strong reaction from his team against Leicester on Tuesday night.
Wenger has urged his team to stay focus on the task ahead and respond well and quickly. And Arsenal couldn’t have picked a better fixture for revival, as Nigel Pearson’s side are sitting rock bottom of the Premier League table.
Arsenal form guide
Lost 1-2 Tottenham
Win 5-0 Aston Villa
Win 3-2 Brighton
Win 2-0 Manchester City
Win 3-0 Stoke City
Arsenal’s impressive run (unbeaten since New Year’s Day) came to an end last Saturday with their 2-1 defeat against North London rivals Tottenham.
The race for the Champions League spot is competitive as usual, and thereby Arsenal’s focus will be very much on the league at present.
Wenger on #AFCvLCFC: “You focus on how you can put your team in a position to respond well and quickly. This is a very important period.”
— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) February 9, 2015
Arsenal Team News
Good news for the Gunners. Alexis Sanchez will return to the Arsenal’s squad having missed the last night with a hamstring injury.
Wenger said as quoted by The Guardian: “Sánchez will be back in the group. He is our best goalscorer and one of our hardest working players in the team. It’s good to have him back.”
The Frenchman also confirmed that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is facing another two weeks out wile has refused to put a date for the return of Jack Wilshere.
Arsenal Predicted Starting Line up
There could be temptation to give new signing Gabriel Paulista a debut, but Wenger knowing the importance of this match may resist that urge.
With Sanchez now back in the team, there could be few changes up front. Mesut Ozil has now scored in three consecutive starts and he is likely to start from the left.
Santi Cazorla has rediscovered himself in the second half of the season and the Spaniard will be given the creative freedom alongside Sanchez/Walcott.
Prediction: The Gunners couldn’t have picked a better fixture to put things back in place. With Sanchez returning, expect a goal fest at the Emirates. 3-0.
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