Arsenal

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  1. Arsenal 4-2 Leicester: Gunners persistance pays off - eventuallypublished at 18:11 28 September

    Matthew Howarth
    BBC Sport journalist

    Arsenal players celebrate after retaking the lead in second-half stoppage time against Leicester in the Premier LeagueImage source, Getty Images

    As referee Sam Barrott blew for half-time at Emirates Stadium on Saturday, title-chasing Arsenal held a commanding 2-0 lead against a struggling Leicester side who had managed just one touch inside the Gunners' area before the break.

    Surely there was little chance of a second-half Foxes revival?

    How wrong we all were.

    James Justin's double after half-time - including a sensational second-half volley from Wilfred Ndidi's cross - stunned Mikel Arteta's side, but the hosts soon regained their poise.

    They peppered Mads Hermansen's goal in the latter stages but were repeatedly denied by the Danish goalkeeper, who thwarted Leandro Trossard, Kai Havertz and second-half substitute Ethan Nwaneri as the Gunners piled forward.

    Just as Leicester appeared to be hanging on for a morale-boosting point, Trossard's shot was turned in by Ndidi before Havertz struck again with virtually the last kick.

    The Foxes certainly gave Arteta and his team an almighty scare, but, not for the first time this season, Arsenal's tenacity, patience and persistence in the face of adversity proved crucial.

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  2. Arsenal 4-2 Leicester: Did you know?published at 18:06 28 September

    Gabriel of Arsenal gets his head to the ball at a corner kick during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Leicester City FC at Emirates StadiumImage source, Getty Images

    Arsenal had 36 shots in this match, their joint-most on record (since 2003-04) in a single Premier League game (also 36 v Sunderland in May 2017).

  3. 'We have to be super happy'published at 17:58 28 September

    Mikel ArtetaImage source, Getty Images

    Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta, has been speaking to BBC Match of the Day after today's victory: "I'm very happy, first of all with the performance. I think we were unbelievable today. We deserved to win with many more goals. Starting the second half the way we did, conceding the first goal makes things harder and then with the equaliser the team showed unbelievable character to keep pushing, creating chance after chance. We suffered more than we should have but this is football. Really happy with the team.

    On the mentality of his side: "Great. How we handled the situation, we felt it should have been many more and it wasn't and suddenly it is 2-2 but we had to deal with a very good team with difficult circumstances and we stayed really composed. We had a lot of clarity, understanding what we had to do and we kept doing what we had to do and we earned the right to win it. James Justin scored an unbelievable, world class goal."

    On scoring two goals in stoppage time: "Now we are really happy but we could have been in a very different position because of the two goals we conceded but certainty with the performance we have to be super happy."

    On the chances of the match ending in a draw: "There's always a possibility, this is the Premier League, every team has got unbelievable resources to create issues and today they scored two goals out of very little but this is the quality that they have."

  4. 'Arsenal deserved to win by a country mile' published at 17:14 28 September

    Pat Nevin
    Former footballer and presenter

    Kai Havertz of Arsenal celebrates with teammates Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka after scoring his team's fourth goal during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Leicester City FC at Emirates StadiumImage source, Getty Images

    There are a multitude of storylines here. Arsenal deserved to win by a country mile but couldn't put Leicester away.

    Leicester didn't get that many chances but made the best of them. If you create that many chances and put that much pressure on with corners at the back post, eventually that creaking back door falls in.

    Today you would have been shocked if Leicester had won at the end. Arsenal found that ugly way to get the three points.

  5. Sutton's predictions: Arsenal v Leicesterpublished at 11:13 28 September

    Chris Sutton and Maximo Park singer Paul Smith

    Chris Sutton is making predictions for all 380 Premier League matches this season, against a variety of guests.

    For week six, he takes on Maximo Park singer Paul Smith, whose latest album, Stream Of Life, is out on Friday.

    Arsenal host Leicester at 15:00 BST on Saturday.

    Sutton's prediction: 2-0

    Are we going to see Arsenal park the bus again? It was more like a couple of buses than just one in front of their goal against Manchester City.

    There is a lot of attention on Gunners boss Mikel Arteta and his approach, and whether people view his team as too negative - they were also very defensive against Atalanta in the Champions League last week - but it's what happens in the end that counts.

    If this is all part of a long-term plan and Arsenal end up winning the Premier League, then you have to take your hat off to Arteta. In any case, I'm expecting them to be much more attack-minded here.

    There was a bit of negativity towards Leicester boss Steve Cooper from Foxes fans when their side got past Walsall on penalties in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday, but they need to be patient with him.

    I always felt it was going to be very difficult for all three promoted clubs this season, and I predicted they would all go down, just like all three did last time.

    Leicester have had great success in the Premier League previously, finishing fifth two seasons running in 2020-21 and 2021-22 after winning it in 2015-2016, but their circumstances are completely different now. Right now their season is all about their struggle to stay up.

    Losing Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to Chelsea in the summer was a big blow because he knitted everything in midfield and, as a team, I would say they are a work in progress.

    The problem for Leicester is you don't want to be playing Arsenal when you are a work in progress. This is going to be an extremely tough afternoon for them, and I can't see them getting anything at the Emirates.

    Smith's prediction: 3-0

    Leicester are up against it this season, for sure. Arsenal are going to be dominant and once one goal goes in, another couple will follow.

    Read the full predictions and have your say here

  6. 'I admire everything Guardiola does' - Artetapublished at 17:08 27 September

    Mikel Arteta and Pep Guardiola shake hands ahead of Manchester City v ArsenalImage source, Getty Images

    Mikel Arteta insists his friendship with Pep Guardiola will not be damaged as Arsenal aim to dethrone Premier League champions Manchester City.

    Following an ill-tempered and dramatic 2-2 draw between the sides last weekend, Arteta made clear that his "personal relationship" with Guardiola will not be affected by sport.

    Speaking ahead of his side's home match against Leicester City on Saturday, Arteta said: "I love him, I respect him, I admire him and I admire his team and everything that he does. This is sport. One thing is our profession, another is our personal relationship."

    The Gunners have finished second behind City in the last two campaigns, finishing five and two points behind them respectively.

    "If our relationship was damaged because one draws and the other one wins or the amount of times that they've beaten us, I would not talk to him any more," Arteta continued.

    "So that's not our relationship, especially the relationship that I consider both of us have. In sport it will never get in my way, a personal relationship, that's for sure.

    "The things that you really care about, make sure you handle them in the right way. That relationship I really care about."

    Arteta responded to criticism of the tactics he used against Manchester City, as his side played the entire second half with 10 men: "If you don't like opinions then you shouldn't be sitting in the position that I am. It's quite simple. Don't take it personally. It's part of our job."

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  7. Arteta on Raya's fitness, leadership and defensive partnershipspublished at 14:28 27 September

    Marissa Thomas
    BBC Sport journalist

    Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game against Leicester City (kick-off 15:00 BST).

    Here are the key lines from his news conference:

    • Arteta says the club has to "wait 24 hours" to see if goalkeeper David Raya is "looking good or not that good".

    • Defenders Jurrien Timber and Ben White "took part in training today" and will be "available in the squad" for tomorrow.

    • On his side coping with captain Martin Odegaard's absence: "It’s not only Martin, he is one of the players who has more impact in the team in many ways but there were many others as well. The team has coped extremely well because we have an exceptional group, a lot of players are taking a different role in the leadership, in their role in the team and they embrace that challenge and I’m really happy for that.”

    • Midfielder and summer signing Mikel Merino is still not ready to make his debut after suffering a shoulder injury in his first training session: "Tomorrow is too soon, he had partial training today and he is looking good. It's about the healing of that bone and how mature that is to expose him to contact basically."

    • On bringing goalkeeper Neto into the squad: "We had to react very quickly with the departure of Aaron [Ramsdale] and we had him on our list for a few years already. He has played in various countries at the highest level. We believe he was the right player because he was in the Premier League, he had experience and he is someone that we can throw there in any moment."

    • Arteta spoke of the mentality of his players when it comes to their improved defence: "[There is] a lot of work from the coaches, from the players individually, developing those relationships and then it is about building trust as well within the team and the squad in many phases that we are comfortable to do that."

    • On Gabriel and William Saliba's partnership: "In terms of chemistry, that existed from day one. That was so organic and so natural. They have qualities that complement each other really well and we have to use them in the right way."

    Follow all of Friday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

    An image detailing how to follow your Premier League team on BBC Sport: "On the app? Tap the bell icon to get news about your club sent to you. Signed in on a browser? Hit 'Follow' to stay up to date.
  8. Did you know?published at 10:11 27 September

    Mikel Arteta speaks to Bukayo SakaImage source, Getty Images

    Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka has more assists than any other player in the Premier League so far this season, with five. He could become the first player to assist a goal in each of his side’s first six games of a campaign in the competition.

  9. What's with the dark arts?published at 07:58 27 September

    Nedum Onuoha, BBC Sport columnist banner
    Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya sits on the floor awaiting medical treatment Image source, Getty Images

    There has been a lot of conversation this week about "dark arts" in football following the draw between Manchester City and Arsenal on Sunday.

    Realistically, everyone who has watched football for longer than one game has seen things they would perceive as "dark arts"; whether it is a player always going down winning free-kicks to take the sting out of the game, kicking the ball into row Z when there was no multi-ball system or time-wasting on goal-kicks.

    These are things we see all the time but our perception of it is dependent on the context of a game. You always see some version of it somewhere, and you hope your team would be doing the same thing if in the same situation - because why should you do something that would benefit the opposition you are against?

    It is the same as going down a bit more easily to win penalties - some people will say "this guy is a cheat", but then on the other side of their mouth, if it is something that could benefit them, they say "he has tried too hard to stay up, he needed to go down there".

    You can have rulings, Ifab can get involved to change this and that, but there will always be a way to push the rules to their limits.

    What we saw with Arsenal in that game, where David Raya sat down to get some treatment while the teams gathered, we have seen those moments before. It is not just new to Arsenal - other teams do it.

    It is always based on certain moments. You do get more frustrated if it happens against you, but when you need to do it, you encourage people to do it. That is one of the beauties of football - the way you see things is always going to be down to perception, context and just whether you think it is benefiting you or not.

    Nedum Onuoha was speaking to BBC Sport's Phil Cartwright