Arsenal face the Foxes at the Emirates Stadium on Monday, trying to keep in touch at the top of the table so let’s take a look at the Arsenal predicted XI v Leicester.

Rather bizarrely, after the first two games of the season ended in defeat, Arsenal are just two points off the top of the table after eight matches. The Gunners have overtaken Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur to break into the top four, so it’s up to them to stay there now.

Their opponents on this occasion haven’t started the campaign too badly, just about scraping into the top half of the table. However, Leicester did suffer a defeat to Everton last time out, losing captain Wes Morgan to a red card. As a result, the defender will be suspended for the match against Arsenal.

Let’s have a look at the Arsenal predicted XI v Leicester.

Arsenal predicted XI v Leicester City – Defence and Goalkeeper

Petr Cech isn’t too far away from making a return to full fitness to our Arsenal predicted XI v Leicester, but Unai Emery admitted on Thursday that the 36-year-old hadn’t joined the team in full training just yet. As a result, Bernd Leno should keep his place on Monday.

Similarly, Sokratis Papastathopoulos is unlikely to make it back in time from the knock he picked up over the international break. Laurent Koscielny is back in training, but not quite match fit just yet. Konstantinos Mavropanos should return at the end of the month.

That leaves Rob Holding and Shkodran Mustafi as central defensive options. Hector Bellerin will start on the right, Nacho Monreal on the left, as they still appear to be the preferred options for Emery right now.

Arsenal predicted XI v Leicester City – Midfield

The biggest question here is whether Emery decides to stick with the 4-2-2-2 used against Fulham or not. However, that won’t affect his decision when it comes to the two sitting midfielders. Whichever formation he plays, Granit Xhaka and Lucas Torreira should both start in the middle.

Torreira got his first assist for Uruguay over the break, whilst Xhaka captained Switzerland against Belgium and Iceland, so the games are coming thick and fast for the pair at the moment. I’d expect them to get a rest in Arsenal’s midweek Europa League game though, rather than on Monday.

If Emery sticks with the 4-2-2-2, which you’d probably expect him to after how well it worked against Fulham, we’ll likely see Alex Iwobi on the left. Mesut Özil is the most probable candidate on the right, though it’s certainly a close thing between him and Henrikh Mkhitaryan on current form.

Alternatively, if Emery reverts to playing three in the middle, we could see a return for Aaron Ramsey. Despite the impressive cameo appearance against Fulham, he still hasn’t shown enough in his starts so far though, so I’d still back Özil for the position on this occasion.

Arsenal predicted XI v Leicester City – Forwards

Again, this really depends on the formation Emery plays. The only thing we can really say with any certainty is that Alexandre Lacazette will start, as the striker is in top class form right now.

If it’s a front three, we could see Alex Iwobi on the left and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on the right, as they were during that particularly effective period of the match against Watford.

More likely Emery sticks with the 4-2-2-2, meaning Lacazette will be joined by a strike partner in either Aubameyang or Welbeck. As well as Welbeck played against Fulham, Aubameyang came on and did even better with a couple of goals and an assist in just 28 minutes.

Remain calm, but we might finally get to see Lacazette and Aubameyang starting as a strike duo up top.

Click ‘Next’ for the full starting eleven

Arsenal predicted XI v Leicester City – Full predicted starting eleven