Arsenal vs Leicester: Notebook

My notes from watching the match live and on a rewatch

Pre-Match thoughts:

Arsenal not doing much rotation here. The only change from my lineup that I thought we might see is Ben White missing completely through injury and Jurrien Timber replacing him on the right hand side.

David Raya is fit enough to start in goal.

Overall this is a strong team. Leicester are newly promoted but still have some threat that they will offer and respecting them with a strong lineup makes sense. Get out early and see if at that point you can get some rest.

First Half:

3 - Arsenal starting strong. First sign of threat is Saka beating his man to the end line, he is nudged down but no foul given.

4 - Martinelli does well to get by Justin and make some space, his pass in the box is a little hard/at an awkward height.

4 - Calafiori in space defending high can look a little unnervy. He is forced to make a foul as he is beaten a little too easy.

5 - Partey loses it when he really doesn’t have to. He is under pressure and forces the ball up the field and it is pretty easily blocked by Ndidi. Leicester can break and work the ball out wide to Justin. Initially I had thought that Calafiori got sucked too far in on this one but he does have to cover the space in the middle and he does pretty well to quickly get out and close down the space.

6 - Saka “accidently” runs into Buonanotte’s shoulder according to the commentary. That’s a nasty kind of blind side hit.

8 - Skipp lucky to not get a card, he comes over the top of it and catches Martinelli square on. Just low enough to probably not warrant a red but you have seen it given.

10 - Declan Rice with some nice work covering back from a corner, keeps Ndidi on his backside and heads it back to Raya after the long ball bounces. He is so cool under pressure.

13 - Saka plays in Haverts down the channel. Arsenal have two players in the box, and it seems they both end up wanting to run to the same spot. I think perhaps Trossard should have darted near post to try and beat Faes here.

Opening 15 minutes has been almost all Arsenal here. They are camped in the final third and playing some pretty nice stuff to try and break it down. First 15 ends with Saka working it central for a shot but it is something that can be seen all the way and saved pretty easy.

16 - Martinelli BIG CHANCE. Saka sees the run but his pass is not perfectly weighted and Martinelli’s first touch is a bit heavy hurting the angle. He goes power and it is just over the bar, placement of the shot isn’t bad just the fine margins there from a tough angle. Comes from Saliba nicking the ball high and going quick before Leicester have time to settle.

18 - Partey shows a nice little burst that he doesn’t always break out.

20 - MARTINELLI!!!!

1-0

Saliba doesn’t fully handle a long ball but gets lucky that Vardy wants to try and draw a foul vs trying to actually play the ball. That can be a foul but that would be pretty soft. Saka does well to create space for Timber who picks out a good pass and Martinelli slots it home.

This angle I think really shows how soft the contact was and how much Vardy just stops play at the lightest touch. This can be called a foul but this level of contact is very normal when two players are fighting for the ball.

This happens a bit later in the game and is more of a foul for me and it also doesn’t get called. Timber doesn’t try and stop play and big a deal about it but overall this type of stuff was allowed during the game.