{"id":6477,"date":"2022-08-12T17:17:50","date_gmt":"2022-08-12T16:17:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=6477"},"modified":"2022-08-14T11:38:25","modified_gmt":"2022-08-14T10:38:25","slug":"jesalibenko-and-friends-come-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=6477","title":{"rendered":"Jesalibenko and friends come home"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color:#fff;display:inline-block;font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;color:#a7a7a7;font-size:11px;width:100%;max-width:594px;\"><div style=\"padding:0;margin:0;text-align:left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1413181513\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;\" rel=\"noopener\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div><div style=\"overflow:hidden;position:relative;height:0;padding:66.66667% 0 0 0;width:100%;\"><iframe src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/1413181513?et=qWGV0CxuSqdXlNhQk79u0w&amp;tld=com&amp;sig=8jcn8Eg59SERM1bvVyaNNYBWlHz719KubfJPuCdafks=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"display:inline-block;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;margin:0;\" width=\"594\" height=\"396\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The historians among us will remember that the last time Arsenal hosted Leicester City in a home opener, as they will on Saturday afternoon, substitute Olivier Giroud headed a late winner as the Gunners fought back to win 4-3 at the start of the 2017\/2018 season.&nbsp;&nbsp;A mere 18 years earlier,&nbsp;at Highbury on the opening day of the 1999\/2000 season, substitute Thierry Henry made his first appearance for the Gunners, who won 2-1 with the help of Dennis Bergkamp\u2019s 65th minute equaliser and a late Leicester own goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But to shake you back to the present, this Saturday afternoon is forecast to be sunny and very hot so the two clubs may need to take advantage of the Premier League\u2019s new rule allowing five substitutions, should injury or fatigue strike as might be anticipated in such conditions.&nbsp;&nbsp;Also due to the hot weather this weekend, the league has announced there will be drinks breaks during games so we hope those in attendance will be able to take advantage on that count.&nbsp; But with Arsenal\u2019s first hurdle at Crystal Palace cleared they now enter a winnable run of games&nbsp;that gives them a chance to position themselves favorably in the table before the mid-season break for the World Cup arrives after gameweek 16 in November.&nbsp;&nbsp;This week Leicester endeavour to become the first opponents to breach William Saliba, Oleksandr Zinchenko and the Gunners\u2019 refashioned defence, while Gabriel Jesus and company hope to mount a successful initial exhibition of attacking verve for the home fans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The opposition&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After Leicester\u2019s difficult season ended a few months ago in an eighth-place finish, they enter the new campaign with a lot of questions looming.&nbsp;&nbsp;Will they be able to challenge for Europe again, or continue to fall back into mid-table mediocrity?&nbsp;&nbsp;With largely the same squad they blew a great chance to qualify for the Champions League on the last day of the season before last.&nbsp;&nbsp;The last part of that scenario will sound familiar to Arsenal fans, who even more recently suffered a similar disappointment. Arsenal, however, have gone out and acquired new players to address their perceived weaknesses, whereas Leicester have not been nearly so proactive with new signings. As of Thursday, the club had still not made a single signing in the current window.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Brendan Rodgers has been in charge at Leicester for three and a half seasons, in which he led them to ninth place in his first half-season, and then consecutive fifth place finishes and an FA Cup prior to last season\u2019s slip to eighth spot.&nbsp;&nbsp;Before this season began, Rodgers expressed frustration at not having sufficient transfer funds at his disposal, saying \u201cthe squad is not going to be the level I would have wanted\u201d so he appears to believe that he lacks the players he needs to prevent a recurrence of last season\u2019s dip in form.&nbsp;&nbsp;The Foxes\u2019 first eleven may still be capable of challenging for the European places or thereabouts, but they lack the squad depth of rival clubs.&nbsp;&nbsp;Their lack of transfer business has seemed to hinge on the possible sales of defender Wesley Fofana, the subject of multiple bids by Chelsea; and midfielders Youri Tielemans, linked with Arsenal for months, and James Maddison, the subject of bids by Newcastle United.&nbsp;&nbsp;No less an insider than our very own TTG commented this week on Arsenal\u2019s non-pursuit pursuit of Leicester midfielder Youri Tielemans, saying \u201cLeicester are in trouble financially and the lack of a bid may be geared to an understanding already reached with Leicester over the timing of the deal given we are playing them on Saturday.&nbsp;&nbsp;If we have agreed personal terms that would indicate we intend to sign him.\u201d On August 1, Newcastle made an improved \u00a350m offer for Maddison but Leicester turned it down.&nbsp;&nbsp;Before the window opened, Rodgers said he wanted a \u2018healthy shake-up\u2019 of the squad so the lack of signings is not by his design.&nbsp;&nbsp;On Thursday, Rodgers clarified the Fofana situation saying \u201cWe\u2019re not looking to sell. That\u2019s the key point. He&#8217;s a top young defender and there are not many about at his age.&#8221;&nbsp;&nbsp;If recent reports are to be believed, club executives do not believe there is a desperate need to improve the squad, being content to maintain the club at its recent level. Rodgers seems to have greater ambitions but be a man stuck in the middle of a muddle, as it were.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The main actual news, as opposed to speculation, in Leicester\u2019s outgoing transfers was the early August departure of 35 year-old goalkeeper and club captain Kasper Schmeichel who moved to French club Nice, meaning Leicester will have a different starting keeper for the first time since before they won promotion to the Premier League in 2014.&nbsp;&nbsp;The Danish international was Leicester\u2019s no. 1 for 11 seasons in which he made over 400 appearances.&nbsp;&nbsp;The Foxes\u2019 new keeper will be one of Danny Ward, who started last week, or Daniel Iversen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Foxes\u2019 reliance on James Maddison in attack last season was considerable.&nbsp;&nbsp;Nobody else in their squad matched his 30 goal contributions (18 goals and 12 assists) in all competitions, but veteran striker and Arsenal tormentor Jamie Vardy managed 15 goals in 25 injury-limited league appearances.&nbsp; Injuries cost the Foxes the chance to play Fofana and Jonny Evans as a center back partnership, unsettling their defensive solidity.&nbsp;&nbsp;When the two of them were healthy enough to play together (just six times in the league) Leicester conceded only seven goals.&nbsp;&nbsp;After Fofana fractured his fibula in pre-season he was out until the end of March, but Leicester&#8217;s goals conceded per 90 minutes dropped from 1.6 to 1.0 with Fofana in the side.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Foxes will be missing two of their most important players due to injuries suffered in the club\u2019s final pre-season game.&nbsp;&nbsp;Full-back Ricardo Pereira is out for up to six months with a ruptured Achilles tendon, while winger Harvey Barnes is out for a few weeks with a knee injury.&nbsp;&nbsp;Rodgers commented on Pereira\u2019s injury prior to their season opener, saying \u201cIt&#8217;s such a shame because a lot of our game idea over the summer was based around full-backs and Pereira in particular.\u201d Leicester played Brentford on Sunday so face Arsenal on six days\u2019 rest, two fewer than the Gunners.&nbsp;&nbsp;Last week the Foxes drew at home with Brentford 2-2, squandering a 2-0 lead built on Timothy Castagne&#8217;s header and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall\u2019s long-range screamer.&nbsp;&nbsp;Leicester\u2019s starting XI included Ward, Castagne, Amartey, Evans, Fofana, Justin, Tielemans, Ndidi, Dewsbury-Hall, Maddison and Vardy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Arsenal XI<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A few months ago nearly no one would have predicted with any confidence that William Saliba would start the home opener in the heart of the Arsenal defence.&nbsp;&nbsp;But speaking of Saliba\u2019s dominant performance last weekend at Crystal Palace, Mikel Arteta enthused \u201cYou don\u2019t really see that at 21 years old in a debut in the Premier League.\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp;Saliba and new signing Oleksandr Zinchenko, who were so effective in pre-season and last week at Selhurst Park, are nearly certain to feature in the starting defence either side of Gabriel while Ben White should continue to fill in at right-back after his admirable performance controlling Zaha, Palace\u2019s most dangerous attacker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Perhaps the best news of the week was that competition for places in the team has definitively been ratcheted up a notch as of Tuesday, when Takehiro Tomiyasu, Fabio Vieira and Emile Smith Rowe had all resumed training after their assorted injuries. If they all emerged unscathed then one, two, or possibly all three of them could displace some of last week\u2019s named substitutes on the bench. But other than those different faces on the bench, the starting XI should be the same one we saw last week:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Ramsdale<br>White &#8212; Saliba &#8212; Gabriel &#8212; Zinchenko&nbsp;<br>Partey &#8212; Xhaka<br>\u00d8degaard<br>Saka &#8212; Jes\u00fas &#8212; Martinelli<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Substitutes: Turner, Tomiyasu, Holding, Tierney, Elneny, Sambi Lokonga, Vieira, Smith Rowe, Nketiah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The \u2018holics pound<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>William Saliba was last week\u2019s the man of the match, as defensive solidity was the key to defeating Palace away. This week the home fans will be hoping to see a different scenario, with Gabriel Jes\u00fas displaying his attacking style and getting amongst the goals as well as providing opportunities for Martinelli, Saka and a rotating cast of characters up front. Leicester appear to be a wounded animal at the moment, and may make it difficult to break them down initially, but over the 90 minutes Arsenal should be able to fashion a number of opportunities, and I expect they will be able to rise to the occasion with this satisfactory score: Arsenal 3 Leicester 0.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite that deceptively one-sided scoreline, there are no doubt going to be some interesting twists and turns, so enjoy the game, \u2018holics, and please do your best to beat the heat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Embed from Getty Images The historians among us will remember that the last time Arsenal hosted Leicester City in a home opener, as they will on Saturday afternoon, substitute Olivier Giroud headed a late winner as the Gunners fought back to win 4-3 at the start of the 2017\/2018 season.&nbsp;&nbsp;A mere 18 years earlier,&nbsp;at Highbury [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6477"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6477"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6477\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6491,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6477\/revisions\/6491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}