Arsenal had a decently-sized mountain to climb, when it comes to trying to catch Liverpool FC in the Premier League title race. But now they’ll head to Leicester City on Saturday without a fully fit recognized, out and out striker anywhere on the roster. Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus won’t be coming back this season
Bukayo Saka won’t be back until April, and when you add it all up, their league title hopes are in dire straits.
Leicester City vs Arsenal FC FYIs
Kick-off: Saturday, Feb. 15, 12:30pm local, King Power Stadium
Arsenal Preview Material: Starting XI Prediction Team News
Google Result Probability: Arsenal victory 75% Draw 16% Leicester City victory 9%
So basically, if it’s “Dire Straits,” and they won’t be winning a trophy this season, the club basically spent all that “money for nothing.”
So now manager Mikel Arteta will have to go with a false 9, which is an inherently humorous position name. A “false nine” sounds condescending as hell, but it is not at all.
Imagine saying that in a different sport, like “a false quarterback” or a “false starting pitcher.”
Both Raheem Sterling and Leandro Trossard can play in a false nine, and then place the other player on the wing. It’s a stop gap solution at best, plus the level of depth in the attack is almost non-existent at this point.
So everyone in the final third is going to have to go the full 90.
Arsenal FC Starting XI Prediction at Leicester City
David Raya; Jurrien Timber, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, Riccardo Calafiori; Martin Odegaard, Mikel Merino, Declan Rice; Ethan Nwaneri, Raheem Sterling, Leandro Trossard
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America and RG. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.