Arsenal travel to Leeds United on Sunday hoping to open up a more sizeable lead over Manchester City that might just remain with their nearest rivals facing Liverpool later that day. No one at the Emirates Stadium is getting carried away over the possibility that they might be in a serious title race but if they lead the way after 10 games they may well feel they have established themselves as the most likely contenders if City fall apart.
Leeds, however, have already beaten one of London’s top sides at Elland Road this season though results have not been quite as successful since. The pressure is not on Jesse Marsch yet but another win against top tier opposition would do him plenty of favors as he looks to win around those supporters who might still long for Marcelo Bielsa. Here is how you can watch the match and what you need to know:
Viewing information
Date: Sunday, Oct. 16 | Time: 9:00 a.m. ET*
Location: Elland Road, Leeds, United KIngdom
TV/Live stream: Peacock Premium
Odds: Leeds +480; Draw +230; Arsenal -188 (via Caesars Sportsbook)
*The match was stopped temporarily suspended due to electrical issues at the stadium impacting the ref’s communication system.
Featured Game | Leeds United vs. Arsenal
Storylines
Leeds: Despite thrilling victories over Wolverhampton Wanderers and Chelsea early in the season, Marsch’s side have wobbled in recent weeks and are without a win since August (though the fact that two of their fixtures have been postponed does not help). Suddenly Leeds are in 14th, just three points off the relegation zone, though the underlying metrics of a team whose expected goal difference is almost zero suggest that they should be comfortably in midtable.
“For the most part we’ve played quite well through the runs of our matches,” said Marsch, “I feel like we’ve been in the match and we know how competitive the games are. We haven’t – apart from Brentford [where Leeds lost 5-2] – given up many goals. I think the biggest room for improvement is goalscoring. It’s turning advantages into chances and chances into shots and shots into goals.”
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Arsenal: Winning is becoming quite the infectious bug for Arsenal right now, they have responded to their loss at Manchester United last month by rifling off six victories in a row. Thursday’s win on Bodo/Glimt’s artificial pitch might even have been welcome for Mikel Arteta in that it came after such an underwhelming performance.
Gabriel Jesus was left behind in London for that game whilst senior players such as Thomas Partey and Gabriel were given a rest. Even Granit Xhaka and Gabriel Martinelli, iron men of the season so far, were only called off the bench late on and Arsenal should be taking a relatively well rested squad to Yorkshire.
Prediction
Arsenal are on a roll and have come to Leeds at a time when results are a long way from where they ought to be. Expect Arteta’s side to get the job done. PICK: Leeds 0, Arsenal 2