By Lloyd Webb
Arsene Wenger says Leicester City have evolved since the last time Arsenal faced them.
The Gunners beat the Foxes 5-2 at King Power Stadium in September, which saw 43 shots on goal during a thrilling game
Wenger says they have changed since then, although their rapid counter-attacks still causes problems for opponents.
"We will try of course to stop their counter-attacking. But at home you have to express your strengths and our strength is to have the ball"
Arsene Wenger
“I told my defence after the game [in September], ‘I’m not happy with your performance’ because they created goal chances,” Wenger said. "We created many as well. It could have been, 5-2 or 8-4. I was already impressed by their offensive potential.
“But it was a very open game. I watched our game again because I wanted to watch how this team moved since then. There is an evolution in their game. They are more cautious at the moment. They play a lot in their final third and come out very quickly.
"Look at the number of direct balls from their half to the opponents’ half. They are higher than anyone else because they have Vardy on his way straight away when they win the ball - they do it very well. They suck you in and go very quickly in the opponents’ half. At the time they were a bit more all going. Today they are a bit more 'let’s sit here and use our strengths' in a very efficient way, which is what they did remarkably well against Manchester City.
"We will try of course to stop their counter-attacking. But at home you have to express your strengths and our strength is to have the ball. We have to try to express our strengths and as well try to stop them from hitting us on the break."
Alexis scores against Leicester
Copyright 2024 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
