The rumours surrounding Mahrez obviously did not help the Foxes (and about Vardy in the last few months), but now that both of them have signed new deals, it remains to be seen if the champions can bounce back.
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The Foxes face Arsenal on Saturday and have defender Robert Huth available after serving a three-game suspension.
Arsenal have scored four Premier League hat-tricks against Leicester (Dennis Bergkamp, Nicolas Anelka, Thierry Henry and Alexis Sanchez), the joint-most against one opponent in Premier League history (Manchester United vs Newcastle also on four).
Mahrez would have been a fantastic signing for Arsenal, as he had a fantastic year last season en route to the PFA Player of the Year award.
There is also an early crisis game with last year’s top two, as Leicester City entertains Arsenal. “For me it is okay”, Ranieri told a post-match news conference. “We have good spirit and work well on the training ground”, said the Italian.
All four sides in action look for their first win of 2016 on Sunday, while one of the Premier League’s newcomers hopes to continues its strong start after being promoted. He said: “‘We want to build again and I don’t want to go”. He was a revelation last season and had been linked with moves to a number of clubs over the summer, most noptably Arsenal and Barcelona – though neither is reported to have made a bid for the player. “It’s the first time that we play in the Champions League, so it’s fantastic”. For the sixth time in the last seven seasons Arsene Wenger had sent a side out woefully underprepared for the start of the new league campaign and failed to take three points; the Gunners are now under huge pressure to earn a positive result at the champion’s home ground.
Holding’s disastrous performance and the lack of bodies at the position may force Wenger’s hand to bring back Laurent Koscielny back into the lineup as Arsenal are reportedly trying to pry either Shkodran Mustafi from Valencia or possibly Jose Gimenez from Atletico Madrid.
“We are working very hard”, Wenger insisted. Vardy, who scored 24 goals last term, netted three times in the two games against the Gunners. Another record Claudio Ranieri will be aware of is Leicester’s 0-0-2 record against the Gunners in 2015-16. Hull isn’t spending money, and that left it with just 13 healthy senior players Saturday.
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“I want to keep our big players, that’s normal”. Since both clubs there are serious problems in the defense, we believe that in this game can play a rate of 2.5 TB.
