The intrigue in the game between Leicester and Arsenal today is however, increased by the transfer sagas between the two clubs surrounding Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez.
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Claudio Ranieri’s side lost to Arsenal twice in the Premier League last season as the Gunners were 5-2 winners at King Power Stadium in September before a 2-1 victory over Leicester at The Emirates in February.
News of his new deal means Leicester have managed to keep hold of last season’s PFA Player of the Year and Football Writers’ Award victor Jamie Vardy, who also turned his back on a move to the Gunners.
Mahrez joins the likes of Jamie Vardy, Kasper Schmeichel and Wes Morgan in committing his future to the club and Ranieri is delighted the Algeria worldwide has opted to stay put.
He joined Leicester in January 2014 whilst they were still in the Championship and scored four times in his first season in the top flight.
Arsenal kit men Vic and Paul Akers prepare the kit before the FA Community Shield match between Chelsea and Arsenal at Wembley Stadium on August 2, 2015 in London, England.
“I’ve achieved good things with this club”, Mahrez added. “I know we made 81 points [last season]”.
“If you look at his numbers, certainly he was in the top three in the league past year”, Wenger said. It’s normal other managers look at Leicester players. We tried to win but sometimes it’s impossible. Hardly the start Arsenal fans wished for ahead of a new campaign that they hoped would see the club finally winning the premier league title for the first time since 2004. Now there is a new story. We tried to do our best.
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Arsene Wenger: “We did not dominate the game [against Liverpool] as much as we would have liked in midfield, and he [Sanchez] suffered a little bit from that as well”.
