Arsenal - Leicester City presents a litmus test for two big names seeking to put a stamp on young tenures at Premier League clubs.
Mikel Arteta and Brendan Rodgers match wits at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday with pivotal table positioning on the line (Watch live at 3:15pm ET on NBCSN and online via NBCSports.com).
Leicester’s 58 points are good enough for third place but a tepid run-of-form saw the side slip from a virtual guaranteed spot in the Champions League to a possible Europa League competitor.
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Arsenal meanwhile has driven itself into eighth place after a very poor start to the season, its 49 points six points behind fifth-place Manchester United and nine behind the visiting Foxes.
Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers signed a new deal with Leicester despite being linked with the Arsenal job before Arteta took the reins in North London.
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Team news
Neither James Maddison nor Ben Chilwell are able to go, the latter joining the walking wounded in the Foxes’ 3-0 defeat of Crystal Palace.
Mesut Ozil and Matteo Guendouzi remain on the outside-looking-in for Arsenal.
📋 Here's tonight's team to face Leicester!
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) July 7, 2020
🇫🇷 @LacazetteAlex starts up top
🇪🇸 @HectorBellerin returns
🏴 @KieranTierney1 also starts
#️⃣ #ARSLEI
In the 🔵 corner 👀
— Leicester City (@LCFC) July 7, 2020
Our #ArsLei team news, sponsored by @eToro 📋
What they’re saying
Leicester forward Ayoze Perez on chasing the UCL: “We need to make sure we protect what we’ve done so far and we can celebrate something important for us. (Manchester United on the last day) could be like a final you know. We’ll see. Football is not predictable at all. We’ve still got a couple of tough games to play. Hopefully by then we are already qualified. It would mean a lot (to qualify). I’ve not made my debut in the Champions League and It’s something you dream for always. The way we’ve done it, and for Leicester, it could mean a lot. It’s not done yet.”
Mikel Arteta on Arsenal’s Champions League hopes: “I think we have to win every game and then wait and pray. It’s not about a game, we need to go game-by-game. A few weeks ago we were really far from thinking about Europe and we are a little bit closer at the moment so lets go game by game and see where that takes us.”
Odds and ends (full matchweek odds)
Arsenal is favored to win at +125 compared to Leicester’s +220, via DraftKings. A draw goes for +245.
Jamie Vardy and James Maddison scored in a 2-0 Leicester win over the Gunners at the King Power Stadium earlier this season.
Arsenal - Leicester City Prediction
Leicester could handle the loss of Chilwell but the absence of Maddison has been notable even in the win over Palace. Both teams have tremendous creators and Youri Tielemans has been wonderful for Leicester, but Arsenal have a bit more and the Foxes do have the injury issues even if both of their ailing stars can go. Arsenal 2-0.
How to watch Arsenal - Leicester City stream, start time
Kickoff: 3:15 pm ET Tuesday
TV Channel: NBCSN
Online: Stream via NBCSports.com