Martin Keown names Leicester ‘problem’ ahead of Premier League clash vs Arsenal
'That's an issue for them.'
Martin Keown has named Leicester City’s biggest ‘problem’ ahead of their Premier League clash with Arsenal on Saturday.
The Foxes are currently locked in a relegation battle and host an Arsenal team looking to continue their challenge for this season’s top-flight title.
Keown, who now works as a football pundit, played for both Leicester and Arsenal during his playing career and has revealed a key ‘issue’ for the home side ahead of this weekend’s showdown at the King Power Stadium.
With Leicester boss Ruud van Nistelrooy having overseen nine defeats from his 13 games in charge, Keown told talkSPORT: ‘I think what their problem is… is when you’re relying on a 38-year-old striker in Jamie Vardy.
‘You get to those sort of numbers and that sort of age, it’s quite remarkable and a testament to him that he’s still there as almost the lone player. There’s one or two others maybe that have won a Premier League and FA Cup in their history. What he’s done there is remarkable.
‘[But] he shouldn’t still be their best striker. They should have developed that by now. That’s an issue for them, getting people to put the ball in the back of the net. They’ve not really had the expenditure, things have sort of slowed down in that direction in the last few years.’
Jamie Vardy has been Leicester’s top scorer this season, netting seven goals across 22 Premier League games.
Vardy, 38, who helped Leicester clinch the Premier League title at odds of 5000-1 in 2016, is out of contract at the end of the current season.
The Foxes veteran has been at the King Power Stadium for 13 years, scoring a total of 198 goals across 487 games to date.
When he decides to retire, Vardy will go down as one of the biggest legends in Leicester history, having also helped them win the FA Cup, Community Shield and two Championship titles.
Meanwhile, Leicester head coach Van Nistelrooy has played down Arsenal’s injury problems in attack ahead of Saturday’s clash, after news emerged that Kai Havertz had been ruled out for the rest of the season.
‘The depth of their squad is clear,’ the former Manchester United striker said.
‘Not having (Bukayo) Saka and Havertz, absolutely top of the world players in that level, is something they will feel, but in the squad they have enough players to replace them.
‘It’s clear that the difference between us and Arsenal is big. You can see that, it is in the table.
‘The team is fighting for the title, is in the Champions League, so it’s a big challenge for us and something for us to look forward to.’
Arsenal produced a 4-2 win over Leicester when the two teams met in the reverse fixture at the Emirates in September.
