Arsenal will host Leicester City at Emirates in the English Premier League on Wednesday night
The Gunners will be hoping to continue their recent run of two victories on the trot since Arsene Wenger decided to switch his formation to a 3-4-3 to give his side more stability, with the Gunners’ new system allowing them to beat Manchester City 2-1 and progress to the FA Cup final over the weekend.
Arsenal cannot afford any slip ups after a terrible few months in which the Gunners looked lost at sea, exiting the UEFA Champions League in humiliating fashion while also going through a poor run of form in the league, which has seen them drop to 7th place in the standings.
However, the Gunners have a chance to go sixth on Wednesday night, 3 points behind Manchester United and 4 points behind Manchester City in 5th and 4th respectively, both of whom have played one game more than Arsenal currently and will face each other on Thursday night.
Speaking ahead of the match against Leicester, Arsene Wenger admitted that he was not sure who would start the match against the Foxes as several players were going to undergo tests on Monday, particularly Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – who left Wembley on crutches after the victory against Manchester City.
“It’s basically unknown territory at the moment because yesterday [Monday] the players were on recovery. We will have a medical check today [Tuesday] for everybody and see who is available and who is not.”
“Overall, we have nobody really injured after the game. It was more precautionary [Chamberlain’s crutches], it was not for a bad injury. We will test him today. It’s a foot injury but it’s a kick.” he said.
Should Chamberlain be rested as a further precaution, Hector Bellerin could start in an unfamiliar right wing-back position. Wenger could also choose to rest Nacho Monreal and give Kieran Gibbs a run out, given how much football the Spaniard has been playing in recent weeks.
There could be a couple more changes from the side that faced Manchester City. Wenger might opt to deploy Danny Welbeck at centre forward instead of Olivier Giroud, while Mohamed Elneny could be called upon to partner Granit Xhaka in midfield.
Leicester City will be sweating on the fitness of Wes Morgan, who injured his hamstring during their quarter final exit to Atletico Madrid. Nampalys Mendy has also been ruled out for the season after a surgery, while Islam Slimani will also miss out with a groin injury.
