The Gunners were defeated by fierce rivals Tottenham at White Hart Lane on Saturday but the Frenchman believes that they can put the loss behind them against the Foxes
Arsene Wenger hopes to banish memories of Arsenal’s derby defeat by Tottenham when struggling Leicester City visit the Emirates Stadium in the Premier League on Tuesday.
Arsenal threw away a one-goal advantage on Saturday as Harry Kane’s double earned Spurs a first win over their local rivals in five attempts in all competitions.
Tuesday’s visit of Leicester presents Arsenal with a chance to bounce back swiftly from that disappointment and Wenger expects a reaction from his side.
“If you respond well, it’s very good,” he told the press. “We play at home against Leicester – a team who are fighting not to go down – so always we have to recover from that disappointment and be ready to respond very quickly.”
Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at White Hart Lane saw Tottenham climb above Arsenal into fifth but Wenger remains confident that his side can finish above Mauricio Pochettino’s men.
“We have played two more away games than Spurs,” he added. “Spurs have played 13 at home and 11 away and we have played 13 away and 11 at home so I think it’s down to our home form now. We know we can win away from home but it will be a battle until the end. It has been every year with Spurs, you know.
“We just have to focus on us with that many teams fighting to get in there into the top four.”
Basement club Leicester come into Tuesday’s fixture on the back of a disappointing result of their own, having lost 1-0 at home to Crystal Palace on Saturday.
Only four points separate the Foxes from 17th-placed Burnley but few away supporters will head to the capital confident of making any kind of dent in that deficit, despite holding Arsenal to a 1-1 draw earlier in the season.
However, manager Nigel Pearson remains focused on the task at hand.
“For myself as the manager of the side who are bottom of the Premier League, what I can’t do is hide from the facts,” he told reporters.
“The facts are that we are where we are and, so far, we have not been beaten in a game where we’ve been absolutely rollercoastered.
“We looked like we could have been in the first half against Man United, but we rallied in the second half. We’ve been competitive.
“We’re not going get downbeat by how people possibly want to write us off after a result like Saturday.”
Leicester are not thought to have any fresh injury concerns, while Alexis Sanchez is set to make a welcome return for Arsenal following a hamstring injury.