Mikel Arteta feels Arsenal’s obsession with correcting their near-fail in the Premier League last season is the difference for his players this season.
After securing 2-2 and fighting Manchester City last Sunday, the Gunners made it through to the fourth round of the EFL Cup, winning convincingly against Bolton Wanderers, with many of their youth talent shining at the Emirates.
Ethan Nwaneri and Jack Porter got the headlines midweek, with Nwaneri scoring two goals on his senior Arsenal debut and Arteta providing four more teenagers the chance to shine against the League One side.
But speaking to reporters ahead of Arsenal’s fixture against Leicester, the Arsenal head coach believes his squad’s hunger for success this season is the difference when referring to his previous groups at the club with the Gunners.
“Well, I think it’s the time in your career, you know that you start to dream, or to pursue certain objectives, targets and when you have accomplished them you want something else,” Arteta said.
“At that time if the team, the club isn’t able to provide that you need to do it elsewhere, I think it’s something natural.”
On their way to the next round, the travelling Foxes fans displayed their sentiments at the end of the final whistle, while the players will face a tremendous challenge of obtaining their first three points of the season at the Emirates on Saturday.
The Leicester manager noted the stature of the task ahead, saying he had big ambitions to reach the level he saw when the Gunners came up against Pep Guardiola’s side last Sunday.
“It was an enticing game for sure. They have played another game since, and closely watched the game last night at Bolton Wanderers”, said Cooper.
“Our focus is on ourselves, so we have to do everything really well in the game.
“This is the level we want to be at. These are games we want to play, but we want to be able to play, with the right attitude, the right mentality, like I said, the ambition to be able to be successful, and if we can get the result we been after then there is is no better time.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Arsenal – Raheem Sterling
Following his first start and goal for Arsenal in the EFL Cup midweek, Sterling will be vying for a start against an opponent he has tended to do well against in previous years.
The 29-year-old has a double in his last two Premier League matches against the Foxes, one for Man City (December 2021) and one for Chelsea (August 22).
Only three players have scored two or more goals against an Opponent in a Premier League-match with three different clubs, Robbie Fowler vs Bolton (Liverpool, Leeds, Man City), Darren Bent vs Bolton (Charlton, Tottenham, Sunderland), and Andrew Cole vs West Ham (Newcastle, Man United, Man City).
Leicester – Jamie Vardy
Vardy has begun the campaign with two goals in five matches, putting him at eight goals away from 200 goals for Leicester in all competitions. However, during his time in the Premier League, he has frequently enjoyed coming up against the Gunners. The veteran striker has scored 11 times in 16 matches against Arsenal, tied for his most goals against one club in the competition, along with Watford.
MATCH PREDICTION: ARSENAL WIN
Arsenal has a solid record against their opponents this weekend, winning their last five Premier League matches against Leicester. This is tied for their longest winning run against the Foxes in their league history (five victories in each instance from 1908 to 1914 and from 1930 to 1932). The Gunners won 16 of their last 17 Premier League matches against promoted teams until a 1-0 loss at Nottingham Forest in May 2023. They have gone 39 matches at home since a 1-0 loss against Newcastle in November 2010, with 34 victories and five draws in those games.
However, Arteta will be hoping for cooler heads when they return to the Emirates. Arsenal has received six cards for either timewasting or not retreating in their Premier League matches this season (four yellow from time wasting, two second yellow), two more than any other club.
Leicester travel to the capital hoping to improve their record in North London. The Foxes have won just one of their last 26 away matches in the league against Arsenal (4 draws, 21 losses) with the solitary victory coming in a 1-0 win in October 2020.
However, since their return to the division Leicester have shown little indication of there being a turning of the tide. Cooper’s team remains winless after five Premier League matches this season (three draws and two losses) having originally gone six without a win from the start of a campaign (2022-23 relegation campaign) in the Premier League.
However, Leicester have both scored and conceded in all five of their league games so far this season – only in their title-winning campaign of 2015-16 have they had a longer such run from the start of a campaign in the competition (first nine). OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Arsenal – 75.9%
Draw – 14.5%
Leicester – 9.6%
