Arsenal v/s Leicester City
Venue: Emirates, London
Timing: 12: 15 AM IST on 12 August 2017
Channel: Star Sports Select
Live Stream: Hotstar.com
Arsenal v/s Leicester City - Preview
*Leicester City's 25 million-pound striker Kelechi Iheanacho expected to start on bench
* Leicester have lost every time they have played at Emirates Stadium and not beaten Arsenal in the league since 1994
* Leicester midfielder Danny Drinkwater, who is a transfer target for Chelsea, has a thigh strain and unlikely to feature
* Alexandre Lacazette will lead Arsenal's line but Alexis Sanchez is unfit
* Both sides lost their opening league games last season
Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez will miss their first two Premier League games of the season after picking up an abdominal strain in training, manager Arsene Wenger said on Wednesday.
Wenger said the Chile international would miss Arsenal's home fixture against Leicester City on Friday as well as the trip to Stoke City on Aug. 19.
"He had a little abdominal strain that he caught on Sunday morning in training and he had a scan two days ago," Wenger told a news conference. "He is out for a while, could be two weeks but he will not be available for Stoke."
Sanchez, who was Arsenal's top scorer in the league with 24 goals last season, has been linked with a move to Paris St Germain in the French media, but Wenger has been adamant that he would stay at the Emirates Stadium.
When asked if Arsenal have received any bids from PSG for the 28-year-old, Wenger replied: "I cannot tell you that. We are not open to any offers anyway.
"(PSG) are looking for (Kylian) Mbappe, that’s what I read in the papers. I have had no contact with PSG."
Wenger also dismissed media reports linking Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain with rivals Chelsea.
The 23-year-old England international has struggled to secure a regular place since arriving at Arsenal six years ago, but Wenger believes the winger has the potential to become a great player.
"I think he had in his career some bad moments because he had some small injuries," the Frenchman added.
"Last year he was much more stable. Personally I think he is a hugely talented player, he's on the way up and he will continue to move up because the potential is there.
"He's very conscious of his qualities, he was not always. I believe he will be a very great player."
Wenger also confirmed goalkeeper David Ospina will stay at the club and fight for the number one shirt with Petr Cech this season.
Leicester City manager Craig Shakespeare is confident of retaining all the players he wants to keep in his squad but is wary of approaches from rivals as the transfer window enters its final weeks.
"Every manager's nightmare is to lose players in the last 24 hours or on the day of the window (closing) and you can't get replacements in," Shakespeare told reporters of the Aug. 31 transfer deadline day.
"You know when you have good players that there might be interest from other clubs but I wouldn't sleep at night if all the scenarios that you (the media) put to me happened.
"But we are a club who don't need to sell, which is vitally important. We don't want to be a selling club. I think we've got owners who want to keep their best players... I think we have those assurances so I haven't got to worry about that."
Goalkeeper Ron-Robert Zieler, who joined German side VfB Stuttgart last month, is the only player to depart, while several additions have been made to bolster the squad, including striker Kelechi Iheanacho and defender Harry Maguire.
Shakespeare's first match as permanent Leicester manager will see the 2015-16 Premier League champions travel to Arsenal on Friday.
With inputs from Reuters
