MY ACCOUNT
Leaders Arsenal go to Elland Road to face Leeds on Sunday looking for what would be a ninth win from their first 10 games of the season.
The Gunners silenced a few lingering doubters with the quality of their performance at home to Liverpool last week and then maintained the winning thread against Bodo/Glimt in the Europa League on Thursday.
Mikel Arteta rotated his resources in Norway and should have most — if not quite all — of his big guns back for the trip to West Yorkshire.
Having been as high as third in the table after three weeks, Leeds have fallen to 14th place and currently sit just three points above the relegation zone.
Whites boss Jesse Marsch knows the importance of nipping a five-game winless run in the bud before panic starts to grip his squad, but stopping the in-form visitors will be extremely difficult.
Team news
Luis Sinisterra is available again after serving a one-match ban and could be restored to Leeds’ line-up.
If the Colombian gets the nod to start, Rodrigo could be the player to make way as Marsch reshapes the attacking area of his favoured 4-2-3-1 system.
Junior Firpo is fit after missing last week’s 2-1 defeat to Crystal Palace as a precaution.
However, Adam Forshaw, Leo Hjelde, Archie Gray and Stuart Dallas all remain out with injury, while Stuart Dallas is on the long-term casualty list.
Arsenal are sweating on the fitness of Gabriel Jesus after the striker required treatment after taking a blow to the face in last Sunday’s win over Liverpool.
Although he missed training this week, the Brazilian is expected to be in Arteta’s starting XI once more.
Oleksandr Zinchenko is a doubt for the Gunners because he is still being dogged by a calf injury that kept him out against Liverpool and Bodo/Glimt.
Takehiro Tomiyasu deputised for the Ukrainian last Sunday and could continue at left-back after impressing recently.
The Japan international was earmarked for bench duty in midweek, which could suggest he is Arteta’s favoured option for this game — ahead of Kieran Tierney, who started in the Europa League.
The stats
Arsenal sit atop the Premier League table after nine games for the first time since 2013-14, when they beat Crystal Palace away 2-0, a game in which Arteta scored and received a red card.
The Gunners’ discipline this season has been much better than Leeds’, with the Whites having committed 120 fouls, 17 more than the next-highest offender, Newcastle.
Leeds, who became the first team in English top-flight history to be given a century of yellow cards in a single season last term, have now picked up 48 cards in 20 Premier League matches under Marsch, excluding the manager’s own red card against Brentford last month.
The Whites are currently averaging 15 fouls per game this campaign, up from 12.3 last season.
Gabriel Martinelli’s opening goal against Liverpool, which was timed at 58 seconds, is the Gunners’ quickest goal in the Premier League since Theo Walcott scored at Queens Park Rangers in May 2013 after 21 seconds.
Prediction
Leeds’ lack of discipline could end up costing them many more points this season, if not in terms of personnel on the pitch, then in terms of the loss of focus that it can also bring.
Marsch takes ultimate responsibility for that and a calm, tactical solution to their underlying issues is needed.
The Whites’ goal production has fallen markedly in recent weeks with Jack Harrison’s supply line something that opposition managers look to cut off.
His battle with ex-Leeds loanee Ben White could be crucial to the hosts chances of getting anything from the game.
Arsenal are averaging 6.22 shots on target this season, but that has risen to 7.33 across their last three games.
It could indicate that backing the 10/11 about Arteta’s men to have at least seven shots on target this weekend would be a sound investment.
