Arsenal vs Leicester - Arsene Wenger pondering striker selection ahead of Leicester clash

Posted Saturday, February 13, 2016 by PA

While title favourites Leicester travel to the Emirates Stadium on Sunday full of goals and high on confidence, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has an attacking dilemma.

The Gunners can close to within two points of the Barclays Premier League leaders with victory in the noon kick-off - but defeat could see them drop as low as fourth by the end of the day.

Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez are again likely to provide the thorn in the side for Arsenal's defence, with the Foxes duo combining for 32 league goals and 13 assists this season.

They have been the driving force of a superb squad effort which has seen Claudio Ranieri's side lose just twice in the Premier League so far - with one of those defeats a 5-2 reverse to Arsenal at the King Power Stadium back in September.

But Arsenal's free-flowing, attacking football has been somewhat absent as of late and Wenger had seen his side go almost five and a half hours without a league goal before their 88-second double salvo in the 2-0 win at Bournemouth a week ago.

Olivier Giroud is the only player at the club to break into double figures for league goals, having racked up 12 so far, but the France international has not scored in his last five outings - something Wenger insists he is not troubled by.

"Not so much," he said when asked if Giroud going over a month without a goal was a concern.

"Because on Sunday he gave the ball to Mesut Ozil on the first goal. An assist or goal is, for me, exactly the same for a striker."

Wenger, who has no fresh injury concerns, may have that dilemma to contend with at one end of the pitch, but in defence Gabriel has established himself alongside Laurent Koscielny.

Wenger has admitted the only concern he has over his new pairing is the language barrier, with Gabriel still not fluent in English, and full-back Nacho Monreal concedes his team-mate must learn quickly.

"It's good that I can speak Spanish with him on the pitch," he told the Arsenal matchday programme.

"But Gabby knows he needs to improve his English because that will make the football easier. Myself, Hector (Bellerin), everyone is helping him every day with it because it's much better for the team."

Meanwhile, Leicester midfielder N'Golo Kante has reminded his team they have achieved nothing yet.

The leaders head to the Emirates Stadium five points clear of second-placed Tottenham and third-spotted Arsenal, having triumphed 3-1 at Manchester City last weekend.

But Kante is well aware Ranieri's side are yet to finish the job.

"The feeling at the moment is like it is for every game - we are focused and we are trying to give our best," the 24-year-old Frenchman said. "Nothing is done yet. We are only in a good position, but the league is not finished and we have to keep going.

"The manager gives me advice and tries to make me improve. I listen to him and I try to give my best.

"I think it's an important game for us and for them (Arsenal). I hope it will be a good game but the pressure is on both teams I think. For us it's always the same. We try to give our best and if we can win, we try to win and that's our goal."

Midfielder Daniel Amartey must wait for his Leicester debut and will not feature against Arsenal while Jeff Schlupp remains sidelined with a hamstring injury.

Matty James is close to a recovery from a long-term knee injury but the Foxes are expected to be unchanged.

Kante is likely to be tasked with keeping six-goal Mesut Ozil quiet, but insisted the visitors need a team effort to stop the German World Cup winner.

"For me, he's a very good player," the Frenchman told Foxes Player. "I played against him in the first game (when Arsenal won 5-2 at the King Power Stadium in September) and I saw then that he was a very good player. But we are a team against Arsenal and it's the whole team - not just Ozil.

"The way we stop Mesut Ozil is as a team. He's a good player but only as a team can we stop him."