Preview for Arsenal v Leeds

Arsenal will look to bounce back from their defeat to Brighton and Hove Albion last time out as they host Leeds United at Emirates Stadium.

The defending Premier League champions were beaten 3-0 on the south coast in their most recent encounter, their slip-up allowing Manchester City to establish a three-point lead at the top of the table.

While City’s title prospects hinge on the sanctions and the outcome of the appeal process after they were found guilty of 114 breaches of Premier League financial rules, the Gunners will still be very keen to get their defence of the crown back on track.

Because of the extended international break, Arsenal have had nearly four weeks to stew on their performance at Brighton.

The long wait should give Arsenal added motivation to put things right and celebrate manager Mikel Arteta signing a new long-term contract in style.

However, Leeds are unlikely to make it easy for Arteta’s men, having made an excellent start to the new campaign.

Daniel Farke’s side are one of five teams still to taste defeat this term and sit just three points behind Arsenal in the table.

While Farke is aware of the challenge facing his side, he is excited for Leeds to have the chance to attack the task in front of them.

Farke told his pre-match press conference: “It’s probably the biggest task at the moment to play away at Arsenal.

“They are one of, if not the best team in Europe. No other team has had this consistency over the last years.

“We travel respectful, knowing that Arsenal is such a good team, but [it’s] also a good chance to show how far we have come over the last year.

“We travel respectful but not with fear. We want to show a good performance but also fight for the points.”

The Premier League Table

# Team Played Won Drawn Lost GF GA GD Pts Last 5

1	Manchester City	5	5	0	0	13	5	8	15	W W W W W
2	Arsenal	5	4	0	1	8	4	4	12	L W W W W
3	Brighton	5	3	1	1	16	5	11	10	W W D L W
4	Brentford	5	2	3	0	10	4	6	9	W D D D W
5	Leeds	5	2	3	0	7	3	4	9	D W D D W
6	Liverpool	5	2	3	0	7	4	3	9	W D W D D
7	Everton	5	2	3	0	6	3	3	9	W D D D W
8	Hull City	5	2	2	1	6	4	2	8	L D D W W
9	Newcastle	5	2	2	1	9	9	0	8	W L D W D
10	Chelsea	5	2	1	2	10	12	-2	7	L D L W W
11	Ipswich	5	2	0	3	7	11	-4	6	L W L L W
12	Manchester United	5	1	2	2	8	8	0	5	D L D W L
13	Nottingham Forest	5	1	2	2	4	5	-1	5	L W D D L
14	Sunderland	5	1	1	3	6	10	-4	4	L L D W L
15	Crystal Palace	5	1	1	3	6	11	-5	4	D L W L L
16	Aston Villa	5	1	1	3	4	9	-5	4	W L D L L
17	Bournemouth	5	0	3	2	6	8	-2	3	L D D D L
18	Coventry	5	1	0	4	1	10	-9	3	W L L L L
19	Fulham	5	0	2	3	5	8	-3	2	D D L L L
20	Tottenham	5	0	2	3	2	8	-6	2	L D D L L

• Position 1, 2, 3, 4 : Promotion – Champions League (League phase)
• Position 5 : Promotion – Europa League (League phase)
• Position 18, 19, 20 : Relegation – Championship

Team News for Arsenal v Leeds

Arsenal will face Leeds with a depleted forward line, with Kai Havertz and Christos Tzolis both suffering hamstring injuries while on international duty.

Ezri Konsa is a doubt with a dead leg, and fellow centre-back William Saliba remains sidelined with a back issue.

Ben White, Cristhian Mosquera and Piero Hincapie should all be fit to feature in some capacity.

Daniel James will miss out for Leeds because of a back injury, but Harry Wilson (quad) and Jean-Matteo Bahoya (ankle) could be fit to feature.

Expected line-ups for Arsenal v Leeds

Arsenal: Raya; Timber, Konsa, Gabriel, Calafiori; Rice, Lewis-Skelly; Saka, Odegaard, Eze; Gyokeres

Leeds United: Trafford; Justin, Muharemovic, Elvedi; Bogle, Tanaka, Ampadu, Stach, Gudmundsson; Okafor, Calvert-Lewin

Recent Form & Stats for Arsenal v Leeds

• Arsenal have won nine of their last 10 Premier League games against Leeds, including each of the last seven.
• Leeds have won only one of their last 17 away league games against the previous season’s top-flight champions.
• The Whites’ last away win over Arsenal came in a 3-2 victory at Highbury in 2003. They have never won at the Emirates.
• Mikel Arteta has won all four of his Premier League matches as a manager against Daniel Farke.
• Only Newcastle United’s Lukas Hornicek has made more saves (19) than Leeds’ James Trafford (18) this season. Trafford’s save percentage of 87 is the best in the Premier League.

Where to Watch Arsenal v Leeds: TV and online streams

Arsenal v Leeds United kicks off at 12:30pm on Saturday. It will be broadcast on TNT Sports 1 and will be available to stream via HBO Max. Sky customers with a TNT subscription can also stream the game via Sky Go.

Prediction for Arsenal v Leeds

Leeds are a different proposition to the team that came up from the Championship last season, but the task of getting a result in North London is likely to prove beyond them.