"Why shouldn't they be champions?"
That's the question which was posed on the broadcast of last Saturday's duel between Manchester City and Leicester City. The Foxes are sitting atop of the English soccer world and have five points to spare. Even if they got crushed by Arsenal on Sunday at the Emirates, the two-week stretch on the road against two of the giants of the sport both in England in across the world, they'd be completely fulfilled. However, if they could, by chance, steal the spoils from London as they did at Manchester, the Foxes would surely become the odds on favorites to capture the most improbable championship in the history of European soccer.
Soccer Odds at BookMaker.eu
Arsenal -133
Leicester City +376
Draw +285
Over/Under 2.5 (over -122)
ODDS ANALYSIS
Last week, you could've gotten a price of nearly 5 to 1 on Leicester City to win at the Ethiad. It has a shorter price here at the Emirates on Sunday of +376, though the odds are clearly still stacked against it.
Arsenal is the deserving odds on favorite at -133 after posting a 7-3-2 record at home and allowing just seven goals at home all campaign long.
Then again, Man City was 9-1-2 and had allowed just 12 goals in 12 matches at the Ethiad before allowing three to Leicester City.
KEY INJURIES
Arsenal still has a laundry list of injuries at this point, and it doesn't seem like that list is getting any shorter. One has to wonder if Danny Welbeck, who has been back in training with the reserves, could be ready to at least be available for a short spurt in this match. Tomas Rosicky, Carl Jenkinson and Santiago Cazorla are all on the sidelines still for the Gunners, as is Jack Wilshere, who probably won't be back until at least March.
Part of the reason Leicester City has been so good this year is because it has avoided the injury bug. Matthew James is a minor injury to be bothered about, but aside from that, the Foxes are at full strength.
QUOTE TO NOTE
"In one week, Leicester have beaten Liverpool and Manchester City. That means that they suddenly become the favorite to win the Premier League. That makes our game on Sunday a big one." – Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger on Leicester City's recent run of form
RECENT FORM
Stoke City. Liverpool. Manchester City. All three have fallen to the Foxes since the tail end of January, each victory more impressive than the last. Two of those three matches eclipsed the total with Leicester doing all the damage by itself to reach the number.
Arsenal has lost some great opportunities to get points these last couple weeks, drawing against Southampton and losing at home against Chelsea. The Gunners rebounded nicely last week against Bournemouth, but the matter of fact is that there's still a lot of ground to make up at this point.
ANALYSIS AND ODDS PREDICTION
Leicester is proving to be one of the more popular bets of the Premier League weekend, but we're just not sure the value is there on it any longer. Would we really be stunned if the Foxes came on the road and continued their epic rise to unlikely stardom? Absolutely not. However, more often than not, we have to believe that an Arsenal team which has played tremendous defense of late is going to find a way to shut down Jamie Vardy and the gang.
Whereas the Foxes were able to make their moments of magic against Manchester City off of set pieces, Arsenal's defense tends to be a lot more anchored down with Petr Cech in the pipes directing traffic. We think this could be a cracker of a match, but we prefer the hosts laying a relatively short number.
Arsenal 2, Leicester City 1
Load your betting bankroll from your smartphone or tablet with BookMaker’s new cashier feature! Depositing and withdrawing funds from your account has never been easier.
BookMaker's live betting platform means you always have access to odds and lines to every sporting event. Click here and start wagering today! The fixture between Arsenal and Leicester City will take place on Sunday, February 14, 2016, at 7:00 a.m. at Emirates Stadium. The game will be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network.
