The opening weekend of Premier League soccer is about as exciting as it gets in sports. The 20 teams that are all in the top flight have visions of a successful campaign by their own measure, though each and every one will have the images of Leicester City celebrating a championship in their heads as a remote possibility. The Foxes are opening up the season against Arsenal at the Emirates in the very first match of the season on Friday in what will be the beginning of a long slog for all 20 clubs in the top flight.
This English Premier League duel will go down Friday, August 11, 2017, at 2:45 p.m. ET at Emirates Stadium. The match will be televised live on NBC Sports Network.
Opening Soccer Odds at BookMaker.eu
Arsenal -227
Leicester City +500
Draw +350
Over/Under 3
Odds Analysis
Fireworks are expected to fly in this, the first Premier League match of the season. Arsenal and Leicester City figure to be two of the more offense-oriented teams of the season in England, and seeing these two pitted against each other to kick off the campaign should make for some entertaining soccer.
Of course, the Gunners have to be the favorites by a heavy margin, merely because they're Arsenal. The opening margin is -227, translating to a comfortable -1 Asian Handicap.
Key Injuries
We haven't even really started the season yet, and already, Arsenal has plenty of injury problems. Santiago Cazorla won't be ready to go until the new calendar year. Jack Wilshere hasn't been with the club the entire preseason. Alexis Sanchez, who could still be transferred any given day now, is ill and isn't expected to play in this one. Aaron Ramsey and Mesut Ozil have been given "little chance" by Arsene Wenger to play in the opener. Plus, Laurent Koscielny is suspended for this affair.
Leicester City is in far better shape at this point, though all eyes will be on Kelechi Ihenacho to make sure he's ready to go from his foot injury he picked up in the preseason.
Recent Form
All in all, it was a pretty successful preseason for Arsenal. The team beat out Chelsea twice, once in a friendly match and once in the Community Shield to kick off the season. The team beat up Benfica and took out Sevilla. Drawing in 90 minutes with Bayern Munich and ultimately winning in penalties was a great result in the International Cup of Champions.
Leicester City really didn't do much to challenge itself in the preseason. The team beat West Brom in its first match on penalties and was dropped by Liverpool. From there, it was nothing but lower division teams with horrible results, including losing to both Wolverhampton and Burton Albion.
Free Soccer Betting Pick
In theory, this Leicester team should be alright this year, safe from relegation and likely firmly in the middle of the table. The Foxes will probably be garnering a lot of attention from bettors who remember that Arsenal didn't exactly end last season in great form and isn't exactly enamored with the job Wenger has been doing.
With so many of the Arsenal regulars out, this would be an easy trap to fall into. But this Arsenal team was bright in the preseason, and Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck both look like they're going to be able to carry this team offensively even if Sanchez does end up going to PSG or elsewhere before the end of the month.
This is a big, strong Arsenal team in the midfield and at the back, and we just aren't sure the speedy, finesse game that Leicester City is bringing to the table is going to play in North London on Friday night.
English Premier League Odds: Arsenal 2, Leicester City 1
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