David Seaman says his ‘only worry’ for Arsenal against Leicester is that Mikel Arteta’s players may be suffering with ‘fatigue’ in the wake of last weekend’s epic at Manchester City.
The Gunners picked up three wins from their opening four matches in the Premier League and appeared on the verge of a famous victory over champions City, despite Leandro Trossard’s controversial sending off.
But John Stones scrambled home an equaliser deep into stoppage time to make it 2-2, sending City’s support into raptures and denying the visitors a first win at the Etihad since 2015.
The result means Arsenal sit fourth in the Premier League table, two points adrift of leaders City, ahead of their clash with newly promoted Leicester at the Emirates.
The north London giants are still without captain Martin Odegaard and there remain question marks over the fitness of David Raya, Jurrien Timber and Ben White, who all missed the side’s Carabao Cup defeat of Bolton.
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Previewing Saturday’s contest on the Seaman Says podcast, ex-Arsenal goalkeeper said: ‘My only worry for this game is fatigue. They’ve come down from what happened at City and maybe a couple of injuries.
‘Three away games and then you go into Leicester and we’re expected to win this quite easily.’
The former England No. 1 believes ‘the only saving grace’ is that several key Arsenal players ‘will have had a rest’, with Arteta putting his faith in the likes of Ethan Nwaneri, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Joshua Nichols versus Bolton.
‘Last season we took four points off City. They weren’t the problem, it was the other [teams],’ Seaman added.
‘That’s why I’ve got this worry about this game but we’ll see.
‘I’ll still predict 3-0! [laughs]’
Steve Cooper is under no illusions regarding Leicester’s trip to the Emirates, with his side up against an ‘incredible team’ in Arsenal.
‘We’re coming up against an incredible team who have been in great form for a number of years,’ the Leicester head coach told reporters at his pre-match press conference.
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‘But it’s these games that you’ve got to embrace.
‘We back ourselves and it couldn’t be a better time to get the result we’re craving.’
Cooper added: ‘Everything in our game has got to be right: with and without the ball and in game management and set pieces.
‘That also includes our mentality, approach to the game and belief.’
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