An away trip to Arsenal is the worst possible fixture for Leicester. The furore over Nigel Pearson's job as boss continues to grow and the club are still reeling from the 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace. Arsenal, meanwhile, will be fired up to hit back after their defeat to Tottenham on Saturday.
Frankly, it's a huge surprise Pearson is in the dugout for the game -- the boss was seemingly sacked, then reinstated. The story ballooned into an absurd drama and the club merely fueled rumours of Pearson's false exit by not immediately quashing the strong rumblings of his departure. They couldn't, however, because even Leicester's media department didn't know what was going on or who was in charge.
Leicester's Thai owners were certainly unhappy with the loss to Palace, but also Pearson's conduct during the game. Wrestling James McArthur to the ground was a moment of madness -- the kind of action you might be handed a P45 for in other professions. Yet the football community has always nonchalantly maintained these incidents can be brushed off as slight misdemeanours in the heat of battle. If Alan Pardew can survive head-butting Hull's David Meyler, anything goes.
Pearson is too smug. His default mode is bullish. He point-blank refused to talk about his apparent axing in his prematch news conference, only adding to the mystery, and continues to laugh off the McArthur scuffle. If anything, surviving the sack will just add to his ego.
One thing that might bring him down a peg or two and thus force him to reform both his tactics and attitude, is a drubbing by Arsenal. Even though Leicester drew 2-2 in the reverse fixture, the Foxes are unlikely to get anything from the game on Tuesday night. Instead, a cricket score could be on the cards.
The uncertainty of the past 48 hours will have inevitably affected Leicester's preparation -- plus they have a dreadful record at Arsenal, where they have lost on their past seven visits. You have to go back to September 1973 for City's last away victory there, when Lenny Glover and Mike Stringfellow fired the club to a 2-0 triumph. Arsene Wenger also has never even lost a Premier League match against Leicester and that surely won't change on Tuesday night.
The encouraging news is that new defender Robert Huth has served his two-game ban. City certainly need a gladiator at the back, but the 30-year-old will still struggle with Arsenal's frightening pace. It's not the ideal debut.
Pearson should gamble -- after all, luck is on his side at the moment -- and start Leonardo Ulloa, Andrej Kramaric and Riyad Mahrez in an attacking lineup. If Leicester shut up shop and play for a point, they will most likely get humiliated, especially with Alexis Sanchez back for Wenger's men. Plus, at this stage of the season a draw really isn't good enough.