‘Leicester & Arsenal’s Seasons Are Almost Parallel’
- Mark Mann-Bryans of PA Sport provides an insight into Arsenal’s fortunes in 2021/22
- The Gunners are unbeaten in eight games across all formats
- Mann-Bryans believes their summer recruitment has contributed to their turnaround in form
- Leicester City host Arsenal in the Premier League on Saturday (12:30pm BST kick-off)
Complemented by the efforts of seasoned frontman Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, they have been two of Arsenal’s most impressive players this season, and are firm fans’ favourites at Emirates Stadium.
Mann-Bryans expects both of them to start against the Foxes, who will be tasked with dealing with their dynamic playing styles in this weekend’s Premier League fixture.
“[Pierre-Emerick] Aubameyang is looking a lot better, he’s looking brighter than he has done recently, linking up the play better now he’s been playing as a centre-forward,” he told LCFC Radio’s Matchday Live.
“He’s not scoring as much as he would like, but I think his all-round game has improved almost in the last six months or so.
“Then, you can’t really look beyond [Emile] Smith-Rowe and [Bukayo] Saka. I’d imagine both will play on Saturday afternoon. They’re just electric. They love to have the ball at their feet and they’re very good players.
“Thomas Partey, he isn’t one in that sense, but he’s one who’ll break things up and he’s great at that job. Leicester have had a few of those midfielders in the last few years that you could compare him to.
“Attacking-wise, it’s those two England youngsters, and Aubameyang, who are definitely worth keeping an eye on.”
Although Arsenal endured a difficult start to 2021/22, losing their first three Premier League games, they have since assembled an eight-game unbeaten run and are level on points with City after nine top-flight outings.
“It’s a strange one, really, because it’s almost parallel to Leicester’s season,” Mann-Bryans continued. “Both will have wanted a better start, almost needed a better start, but now seem to be finding their feet.
“Arsenal started that loss at Brentford with a team that was decimated with missing players, then they lost to Chelsea and Man City. There’s no shame in that I don’t think, but they went into that first international break bottom of the table and it created headlines.
“If you look at the run since then, including the League Cup win over Leeds the other night, they’ve won six of their last eight games and they’ve not lost since that defeat to Man City in August. They’ve slowly turned it around without anyone really expecting them to.”
The Gunners were able to bring in a host of new signings over the summer, including England defender Ben White, young Lions goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale, Japan star Takehiro Tomiyasu and playmaker Martin Ødegaard.
That bolstering of the squad means Arsenal are now hoping to bring European football back to Emirates Stadium in 2022/23, Mann-Bryans says.
He added: “Their recruitment was very good in the summer. Internally, within the club, they’d love to be back in Europe next year, so you’re looking at top six [as a target]. They’d want top six and a good run in a trophy, either the FA Cup or the League Cup.
“They’re through to the quarter-finals of the League Cup now and we might be doing this again in a few weeks.
“They’d like a bit of silverware, it’s always nice to win something, as Leicester found out last season. The key thing is improving on two eight-placed finishes under Mikel Arteta so far.”