Premier League: Leicester City, Arsenal play out dull draw; still without a win in new season

Leicester: Premier League champions Leicester City and last season's runners-up Arsenal remain without a win this season after a slow-burning 0-0 draw at the King Power Stadium on Saturday.

Beaten 2-1 at promoted Hull City last weekend, Leicester avoided the ignominy of becoming the first English champions to lose their first two games since Aston Villa in 1981.

But Claudio Ranieri's side were frustrated by two unsuccessful penalty shouts -- one in each half -- and also lost full debutant Nampalys Mendy to an apparent ankle injury.

Arsenal looked far more robust than the team beaten 4-3 by Liverpool a week ago and were able to welcome back Laurent Koscielny, Mesut Ozil and Olivier Giroud from their post-Euro 2016 breaks.

But with the season only two games old, both Arsene Wenger's men and Leicester are already five points off the pace set by Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea and Hull.

Ranieri had given starts to Demarai Gray and new signings Luis Hernandez and Ahmed Musa at Hull, but he reverted to last season's formula for the visit of Arsenal, three months on from his side's title coronation.

Robert Huth returned from suspension in place of Hernandez, along with Marc Albrighton and Shinji Okazaki, and Mendy stepped into the midfield hole created by N'Golo Kante's move to Chelsea.

With Arsenal dominating possession on a blustery East Midlands afternoon, it also allowed Leicester to adopt the counter-attacking formula that saw them storm the table in the first half of last season.

Arsenal were reduced to potshots, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, in for the injured Alex Iwobi, curling wide and Santi Cazorla, who replaced the hamstrung Aaron Ramsey, shooting straight at Kasper Schmeichel.

The first moment of contention in the Arsenal box occurred late in the half, after Petr Cech had saved at the feet of Jamie Vardy.

Musa penalty appeal

Danny Drinkwater, following up, tumbled over Koscielny's outstretched leg, but referee Mark Clattenburg played on and despite the home fans' boos, television replays vindicated his call.

Leicester suffered a setback early in the second half when Mendy had to go off after seeming to injure his right ankle, with Andy King taking his place.

But the hosts began to show greater enterprise in attack, Riyad Mahrez drawing an untidy foul from Francis Coquelin and then whipping a shot narrowly over the bar from the free-kick that followed.

With the game becoming scrappy, Ranieri introduced Leonardo Ulloa to the mix and with 20 minutes to play Vardy spurned a gilt-edged chance to break the deadlock.

Albrighton caught Granit Xhaka dawdling and sent the ball skidding into Vardy's path, but with Koscielny sliding in to close him down, the England man skewed his shot wide.

Wenger sent on Jack Wilshere, Ozil and Giroud from the bench and the visitors began to make inroads.

Theo Walcott threatened twice, forcing a save from Schmeichel and a fine, stretching block from Wes Morgan, while Alexis Sanchez teed up Ozil for an effort that drew Schmeichel racing from his line to block.

But Leicester saw a strong penalty appeal turned away late on when Hector Bellerin appeared to trip substitute Musa in a tangle of legs just inside the box, only for Clattenburg to shake his head once more.

There was time for one last scare in the Arsenal box as Mahrez left Koscielny on the deck before taking aim, but Cech parried to extend his side's unbeaten run against Leicester to 22 games.

The Premier League influence on Spain

Ever since Rafa Benitez took over as Liverpool manager in 2004 and brought the likes of Xabi Alonso and Luis Garcia with him, there has been a steady stream of Spanish players plying their trade in the Premier League. Whilst Barcelona and Real Madrid caught most attention as Spain enjoyed their golden period that saw them win the 2008 and 2012 Euros, along with the 2010 World Cup, the Premier League also contributed towards those squads.

Whilst many of the established names amongst Spain’s glory period are still involved today – the likes of former Premier League stars Xabi Alonso, Fernando Torres and Pepe Reina are no longer involved – the Premier League retains an influence in the Spanish international set up. For varying reasons there have been some notable exclusions from this squad. Santi Cazorla and Juan Mata were a part of the successful Spanish squads, but after a long term injury it is perhaps no surprise that Cazorla is not involved. Mata, on the other hand, is fit but has struggled to reproduce the form he showed in his first two seasons at Chelsea and for both players this probably signals the end of their international careers.  Diego Costa is another high profile name to miss out, uncertainties over his fitness levels have cost the Chelsea striker his chance this summer.

A few of Costa’s team-mates will be involved though. Defender Cesar Azpilicueta has had a season well below his normally high standards, but is still a key member of the squad and his ability to play either left-back or right-back makes him particularly valuable. Another Stamford Bridge player to have had a below par season is Cesc Fabregas. The enigmatic midfielder was massively influential in his first season at Chelsea, but has struggled to consistently reproduce that form. His talent is without question though and never has been throughout his career. It’s likely that he will be a substitute and be able to offer his quality and ability to change a game late on by opening a team up with his incisive passing. It’s a similar situation with Pedro, who has had a tough period of transition since coming to the Premier League. He is however, another player of unquestionable talent and certainly played his part in the all-conquering Barcelona side under Pep Guardiola. With his pace, technique, movement and composed finishing he gives Vincente Del Bosque another excellent option from the bench to change a game.

Staying in London, Arsenal’s Hector Bellerin has had a good season and although he still has some way to go, his pace and attacking threat will always make him an asset. His defending has also improved, but needs to improve further for International football. The injury to Carvajal has given Bellerin the chance to gain the experience of being part of an international squad at a major tournament and if Spain win both their opening games he may be involved in their final group match. It’s early days in his career and he should benefit from the experience.

David Silva’s season at Manchester City is another that has been hindered by injuries and he only showed his quality in flashes, but he remains a prominent component in the national team. His fitness issues will mean he’s unlikely to start their opening group game, but that exceptional technique, vision and awareness will surely be called upon.

The final Premier League member of Spain’s squad is Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea, who has made incredible progress over the past 3 years to become arguably the best in the league and certainly amongst the world’s elite in his position. Incredibly though, Del Bosque is reportedly undecided about who will be Spain’s starting keeper for this tournament, with veteran Iker Casillas the other option. The once great Casillas is in the autumn of his career and sadly, as was seen at the 2014 World Cup, is not the player he once was. If De Gea does get the nod, he has shown Premier League fans just how influential he can be, pulling off a multitude of saves to keep a flailing Manchester United side competitive in recent seasons. With defenders as impulsive as Sergio Ramos and Gerard Pique, Spain could well need a top class goalkeeper capable of pulling them out of the mire and De Gea certainly fits that bill.

So, although it may be more peripheral in this tournament, the Premier League influence on Spain at Euro 2016 could still be a vital one.

The Most Creative Player In The Premier League Is Bizarrely… A Spanish Defender

The always excellent Opta have just released some data detailing the most creative players in the Premier League this season.

One won’t be surprised to hear that the player in question comes from Arsenal with three Gunners listed in the top eight. However, the fact that the person occupying the top spot is a defender may certainly come as a surprise.

The specific data in question refers to which players have created the most ‘clear-cut’ chances so far this season. According to Opta, a clear cut opportunity is one in which a striker should ‘reasonably be expected score’.

Both Santi Cazorla and Mesut Ozil feature on the list with 5 and 4 clear-cut chances created respectively. However, the man who sits at the very top of the pile, is Spanish right-back Hector Bellerin.

The full list of clear-cut chances makers reads as follows:

Hector Bellerin (6)

Dimitro Payet, Santi Cazorla and Mesut Ozil (5)

Jonjo Shelvey, Riyad Mahrez, Ross Barkley Saido Mane (4)

So, what does all of this mean? Does it mean anything at all?… Of course it does. The morale of the story is get the man into your fantasy team immediately.