Leicester 0-1 Arsenal LIVE! Martinelli goal – Premier League match stream, latest score updates today

Leicester vs Arsenal – LIVE!

Arsenal restored their five-point lead at the top of the Premier League – even if it only lasts for a couple of hours, as Man City take on Bournemouth in the evening game – after overcoming Leicester City on Saturday afternoon.

It’s been nip and tuck between Mikel Arteta and Pep Guardiola’s sides in the past few days, since City’s statement 3-1 win at the Emirates 10 days ago. But the Gunners – who were boosted by the return of Thomas Partey to the matchday squad after he had battled a thigh problem – secured victory thanks to Gabriel Martinelli’s goal almost immediately after the second half kicked off.

It wasn’t vintage stuff from Arteta’s side, but they were deserving winners. See how the action unfolded on the Evening Standard’s dedicated LIVE blog below, featuring insight from our reporter Simon Collings at the King Power Stadium.

Leicester vs Arsenal highlights

• FT: Leicester 0-1 Arsenal

• GOAL! Martinelli breaks the deadlock

• HT: Leicester 0-0 Arsenal

• Trossard goal ruled out by VAR

Leicester City FC 0 - 1 Arsenal FC

Arsenal player ratings

17:10 , Dominic Booth

Trossard, Martinelli, Jorginho and Gabriel get the best marks from our reporter Simon Collings at Leicester today.

You can read the ratings in full here

17:07 , Dominic Booth

‘1-0 to the Arsenal’ is trending on Twitter. Course it is...

Match report

17:02 , Dominic Booth

Arsenal were made to work fairly hard for the three points today, but Gabriel Martinelli’s goal was deserved, as were the three points.

Our match report from the King Power Stadium is here.

Full time thoughts

16:54 , Dominic Booth

Our reporter’s final thoughts from the King Power:

FT: Leicester 0-1 Arsenal

16:53 , Dominic Booth

Full time. Arsenal can breathe.

The classic ‘1-0 to the Arsenal’ scoreline is enough today. Not pretty in the second half, but very much a deserved three points, which extends the Gunners’ Premier League lead to five points – until around 7.30pm at the earliest!

Stay tuned for all the reaction.

16:51 , Dominic Booth

91 mins: Tomiyasi is a stoppage time sub for Arsenal, another defensive reinforcement from Arteta as Leicester send balls into the mixer.

Added time

16:49 , Dominic Booth

It’s.... FIVE. Hold onto your hats.

16:48 , Dominic Booth

89 mins: Arsenal doing a decent job of managing the game now. They’re going down when fouled, holding onto the ball whenever possible, disrupting Leicester.

16:46 , Dominic Booth

16:45 , Dominic Booth

87 mins: Leicester have offered more in the past 15, 20 minutes, in fairness. But there’s been virtually no clearcut chance to write home about for the Foxes. It only takes one...

16:44 , Dominic Booth

85 mins: It’s all about seeing the game out for Arsenal now, you feel. That’s what that Partey sub from Arteta suggests, anyway.

Leicester bring on Ricardo for Castagne.

16:42 , Dominic Booth

83 mins: Arsenal will finally bring on more subs, with Partey making his return, Odegaard going off.

It’s become very stop-start, towards the end of this game.

16:38 , Dominic Booth

79 mins: ‘We’ve got super Mik Arteta’, chant the visiting Arsenal fans.

He must know that what Arsenal really need at the moment is a second goal. Jorginho is down with an injury, might have been a blow to the head.

16:37 , Dominic Booth

78 mins: Leeds, Aston Villa and West Ham are all winning elsewhere in the Premier League today. Leicester could get pulled into the relegation mire, if they’re not careful. They’ve not been particularly good today.

But they’re only a goal behind.

16:35 , Dominic Booth

76 mins: Daka is also on for Leicester.

16:34 , Dominic Booth

75 mins: Soumare is coming on for Leicester. No imminent second sub for Arsenal just yet.

16:32 , Dominic Booth

72 mins: Ramsdale is briefly concerned, as Dewsbury-Hall powers a shot just wide of the Arsenal goal. That was a little hairy.

Meanwhile, just a moment to say that Jorginho is a delightful footballer. Why did Chelsea want rid of him? Been excellent today.

16:28 , Dominic Booth

70 min: Nketiah for Trossard, by the way.

16:28 , Dominic Booth

69 mins: Nketiah won’t quite get himself onto the pitch just in time for a corner, which Saka won after standing up Kristiansen for the umpteenth time today.

Leciester hack it clear. Gabriel tries to recover it but stabs the ball harmlessly into the side netting.

Nketiah coming on

16:26 , Dominic Booth

68 mins. Aka Eddie time.

16:25 , Dominic Booth

67 mins: Yes, Arsenal have been impressive today. Yes, they’re fully deserving of their lead and might have more goals.

But one moment of magic from Leicester could mean two vital dropped points in the title race. Arteta must be urging his players to find a second goal.

16:23 , Dominic Booth

64 mins: If anyone is going to create something in a Leicester shirt, it’s Harvey Barnes.

The home side have looked a little better since the changes. They still lack bite, and thrust, and a lot of other things.

Double Leciester sub

16:20 , Dominic Booth

Tielemans and Vardy come on for Iheanacho and Tete for the hosts.

Not before time.

16:19 , Dominic Booth

61 mins: The free kick is into the wall and scrambled to something resembling safety for Leicester.

Odegaard is growing into this game just as Leicester begin to tire. He is finding pockets of space just off the forward line and causing problems.

16:17 , Dominic Booth

59 mins: Ward palms away Zinchenko’s shot, Arsenal keep the heat on, and eventually Leicester concede a free-kick in a dangerous position. They can’t get out.

16:16 , Dominic Booth

58 mins: The Norwegian magician is impressing once more.

16:15 , Dominic Booth

57 mins: Arsenal couldn’t have had any complaints about that latest decision. Clear offside, which VAR confirms.

Can Leicester put a spanner in the works here? They need to offer more.

16:14 , Dominic Booth

55 mins: Arsenal are again popping it about the pitch with some verve. Zinchenko and Odegaard continue to get on the ball with regularity.

So close to 2-0, Saka finishes from close range but the flag goes up! That would have been lovely.

16:10 , Dominic Booth

52 mins: Close for Leicester! Really good from Dewsbury-Hall and Barnes to craft the opening, with Barnes feeding Tete at the back post... he can’t quite get the contact to direct it home.

16:08 , Dominic Booth

49 mins: It’s better news for Arsenal now, with Martinelli on his feet after getting some lenghty treatment. He’s back on the pitch and the noises at the King Power now are being made by the visiting Gooners.

16:06 , Dominic Booth

47 mins: This could well be a bittersweet moment for Martinelli. He latched onto Trossard’s ball to slide it into the far corner beyond Danny Ward, but the Brazilian appears to be in some pain.

He stayed down as soon as he scored.

GOAL! Leicester 0-1 Arsenal | Martinelli, 46

16:05 , Dominic Booth

What a fantastic start to the second half for Arsenal! Superb finish from Martinelli. He’d lacked end product in the first-half but turned it on there. Huge goal for Arsenal.

SECOND HALF

16:04 , Dominic Booth

We’re back up and running.

No substitutions by either manager at the break.

No goals in the Premier League

16:02 , Dominic Booth

Let’s hope for better...

Our reporter Simon Collings’ first half thoughts

15:50 , Dominic Booth

A decent half from Arsenal, who have controlled the game well. VAR frustrations for them again. Trossard goal, rightly IMO, ruled out for a foul by White. But then no penalty for Saka – which was a foul IMO – when Souttar bundled him over.

HT: Leicester 0-0 Arsenal

15:49 , Dominic Booth

The Gunners finish the half on top, but again there’s no way through, with decent defending by Faes for Leicester on this occasion.

The Foxes have kept the shackles on the Premier League leaders so far.

15:46 , Dominic Booth

Two added minutes

15:44 , Dominic Booth

43 mins: Martinelli gets a shot away from a very acute angle, which is off target. He was never going to score from there.

15:43 , Dominic Booth

42 mins: A cheap concession of possession by Zinchenko allows Barnes a dart forward, but Leicester can’t make much of it.

15:42 , Dominic Booth

41 mins: Arsenal aren’t quite exerting the level of control that they were exhibiting earlier on.

But they’re still the far likelier side to break the deadlock, as another corner is cleared away.

15:40 , Dominic Booth

39 mins: Iheanacho was down injured for a fair while, then. So we might get a few minutes of added time on this opening 45 minutes, especially with the VAR checks, too.

Praet’s free-kick looks for Souttar, but rather stupidly, the big centre-back started in an offside position.

15:37 , Dominic Booth

36 mins: Arsenal rush back in defence to stop a potent-looking Leicester counter-attack. Bad option by Dewsbury-Hall who, to be fair, has been pretty impressive for the hosts.

Good from the Arsenal backline, though.

15:35 , Dominic Booth

This is what Wrighty thought...

15:35 , Dominic Booth

34 mins: Well, Arsenal will feel they haven’t had the rub of the green, here. First it was VAR ruling out Trossard’s goal for the foul by Ben White, then Saka’s penalty shouts are ignored by the men in Stockley Park.

Both Saka and Arteta cut bemused figures. But it remains goalless.

15:33 , Dominic Booth

31 mins: Leicester had the ball in the net through Iheanacho not long after the Trossard goal was ruled out. But he was comfortably offside and the flag rightly went up.

Now, Arsenal appeal for a penalty and want a VAR check themselves. It’s all happening....

NO GOAL

15:30 , Dominic Booth

28 mins: The goal will not stand, much to Arsenal’s frustration.

That looked a foul by Ben White from me. A silly one too as I am not sure it impacted Ward much. A shame, as that was a great finish from Trossard.

VAR check

15:29 , Dominic Booth

Was there a foul on Danny Ward in the build up? VAR are looking into it.

GOAL! Leicester 0-1 Arsenal | Trossard, 26

15:27 , Dominic Booth

26 mins: Martinelli has been really lively so far. He’s got these Leicester defenders on toast and it’s last-ditch stuff at times from Brendan Rodger’s men.

Arsenal have had numerous corners. And this one brings the goal! Trossard from the edge of the box, that’s a superb finish.

15:25 , Dominic Booth

24 mins: Leicester enjoy a brief foray into the Arsenal half, courtesy of a long dip downfield by Danny Ward, but the home side can’t hang onto the ball for long.

We’re back to Arsenal dominance, for the most part.

15:23 , Dominic Booth

22 mins: The final ball hasn’t been right from Arsenal so far. Saka guilty of a poor cross with his right foot.

The stats show that Arsenal have five shots (non on target). Leicester haven’t had one.

15:22 , Dominic Booth

21 mins: Arsenal showing much more control today than compared to Villa last week. Arteta will be pleased with this start. They just need to create a clear chance.

15:21 , Dominic Booth

19 mins: Surprise, surprise, the corner is taken short by Arsenal. Martinelli has a half-shout for a penalty but in the end Leicester get a free-kick the other way after the ball was headed back into danger.

15:20 , Dominic Booth

18 mins: The travelling Arsenal fans have been chanting Jorginho’s name. He’s pulling all the strings from deep-lying midfield.

It’s a corner for the Gunners, as the pressure keeps mounting.

15:17 , Dominic Booth

16 mins: Kristiansen at left-back for Leicester has a battle on his hands today, to try and shackle Bukayo Saka. He’s fouled him a couple of times already.

Martinelli’s scooped pass doesn’t quite find Saka on the right-hand side of the box.

15:16 , Dominic Booth

14 mins: Arteta barks some instructions at his players; he knows the importance of an early goal here, to relieve some of the tension after a mixed period for Arsenal of late.

15:13 , Dominic Booth

12 mins: The pattern of this game was set very early on and has given no indication of changing. Zinchenko is seeing a lot of the ball in an advanced area.

15:11 , Dominic Booth

10 mins: Leicester are starting to get their tackles in, and there’s a promising breakaway for the Foxes lead by Iheanacho.

Tete is marshaled out of play by Gabriel after a second wave of Leicester pressure.

Fluid Arsenal movement

15:09 , Dominic Booth

8 mins: Trossard and Martinelli swapping positions. It feels much more like when Jesus plays, with the forward line very fluid.

A little respite for Leicester finally, as they enjoy some possession.

15:07 , Dominic Booth

6 mins: A dangerous run by Saka, jinking into the Leicester box and looking to fire off a shot.

The blue shirts are being pinned back already.

15:06 , Dominic Booth

5 mins: Leicester haven’t really got out of their own half yet. Arsenal were briefly pressed back but worked it nicely, until Xhaka’s ball across the box is deflected away for a corner.

Ndidi heads it away at the near post.

15:04 , Dominic Booth

3 mins: It’s absolutely no surprise that Arsenal are dominating the ball in these early stages, they’re zipping it around with confidence.

Saka drifts into some space centrally, switches it to the left, but Martinelli’s sweeping cross is cleared.

15:02 , Dominic Booth

1 min: An early opening for Arsenal as Odegaard looks to take it on the turn and volleys goalwards, but it’s comfortably over the bar.

KICK OFF!

15:01 , Dominic Booth

Here we go.

14:58 , Dominic Booth

Southgate is here

14:56 , Dominic Booth

We’re almost ready to get under way here. Teams in the tunnel and ready for action.

England manager Gareth Southgate here at the King Power today. Plenty of players for him to keep an eye on, not least Bukayo Saka. The winger is flying right now.

14:43 , Simon Collings

Arsenal are warming up and doing some attack v defence. Trossard is playing as No9. Martinelli out left.

Today’s fixture list

14:37 , Dominic Booth

A reminder of the other 3pm kick-offs in the Premier League today:

- Everton vs Aston Villa

- Leeds vs Southampton

- West Ham vs Nottingham Forest

And then there’s AFC Bournemouth vs Man City at 5.30pm, of course.

14:31 , Dominic Booth

Not such a youthful side as usual for Arsenal today...

Why Zinchenko is captain today

14:17 , Dominic Booth

Arsenal have made Oleksandr Zinchenko captain for their match against Leicester as “a mark of respect and love on the first anniversary of the conflict in Ukraine”.

War in Ukraine broke out on February 24 and the conflict is still going on one year after it began.

Arsenal have marked the occasion by making Zinchenko, who is a established Ukraine international, captain for their match at Leicester today.

The Gunners’ usual skipper is Martin Odegaard, while their two vice-captains are Gabriel Jesus and Granit Xhaka. Odegaard and Xhaka have been picked to start the game at the King Power Stadium, but the armband was given to Zinchenko for the match.

Reaction to lineups

14:11 , Dominic Booth

It’s interesting that Mikel Arteta is lining his Arsenal side up today without a recognised No.9. Eddie Nketiah has done better than most expected after being asked to fill the void left by the injured Gabriel Jesus. But the 23-year-old has failed to net in his past five appearances and Leandro Trossard has been banging the door down for a regular start.

Whether Trossard or Martinelli play in the central striker’s role remains to be seen. The January signing from Brighton has certainly impressed since arriving. It’s also interesting this his fellow mid-season arrival Jorginho keeps his place, even though Thomas Partey is deemed fit enough for the matchday squad.

Leicester XI – No Maddison

14:05 , Dominic Booth

Leicester XI confirmed: Ward; Castagne, Souttar, Faes, Kristiansen; Dewsbury-Hall, Ndidi; Praet, Tete, Barnes; Iheanacho.

Subs: Iversen, Ricardo, Amartey, Thomas, Mendy, Tielemans, Soumar, Vardy, Daka

Arsenal XI – Trossard and Jorginho start

14:00 , Dominic Booth

Arsenal XI confirmed: Ramsdale; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Odegaard, Jorginho, Xhaka; Saka, Trossard, Martinelli.

Subs: Turner, Tierney, Tomiyasu, Kiwior, Holding, Smith Rowe, Vieira, Partey, Nketiah

13:52 , Dominic Booth

The players have arrived at the King Power – and Bukayo Saka is certainly a popular man!

Team news around the corner

13:44 , Dominic Booth

Okay, so it’s not long until the official team news arrives with us. Will it be Partey or Jorginho in the Arsenal midfield alongside Granit Xhaka?

That’s the biggest question that needs answering, with Arteta preferring to make as few changes as possible this season.

Odds

13:23 , Dominic Booth

No surprise that Arsenal are big favourites with the bookmakers for today’s game. Here are the odds Betfair are giving:

- Leicester win 9/2

- Draw 31/10

- Arsenal win 6/10

13:12 , Dominic Booth

Some Dennis Bergkamp magic against Leicester way back in the day for you to enjoy. This fixture will forever evoke memories of the non-flying Dutchman. Some player.

Score prediction

12:51 , Dominic Booth

After Arsenal showed great character to beat Aston Villa 4-2 last weekend and following Leicester’s miserable 3-0 defeat at Manchester United, there really should be only one winner this afternoon.

Leicester certainly have the quality to hurt Mikel Arteta’s side on the counter-attack, but Arsenal should have enough to power past the Foxes.

Evening Standard prediction: 2-1 Arsenal

The early team news

12:43 , Dominic Booth

The official teamsheets will land at 2pm and it will be interesting whether James Maddison plays any part for Leicester. The tricky playmaker is an injury doubt for today’s game. Youri Tielemans and Boubakary Soumare returned in the Foxes’ 3-0 defeat to Manchester United last weekend and should start.

For Arsenal, it’s all eyes on Thomas Partey, who could be involved after missing key games of late with a thigh injury. Bukayo Saka is expected to be fit.

Here’s more on the early team news ahead of the game

Is it on TV?

12:37 , Dominic Booth

Since today’s clash between Leicester and Arsenal is kicking off at 3pm, UK time, it’s covered by the Saturday afternoon blackout for viewers in the UK.

That means this Evening Standard live blog is your best bet for detailed updates and analysis, with our reporter at the ground.

It’s a huge afternoon for the Gunners.

Welcome

12:32 , Alex Young

Good afternoon and welcome to the Evening Standard’s LIVE coverage of the Premier League clash between Leicester City and Arsenal.

The Gunners can move five points clear of title rivals Manchester City with victory at the King Power Stadium, ahead of the champions facing Bournemouth later today.

Kick-off is at 3pm GMT, and we have Simon Collings at the ground. Stick with us.