Leicester City had two big penalty appeals turned down as they played out a goalless draw with Arsenal at the King Power Stadium.
The Foxes felt that they should have had a penalty in the first half when Danny Drinkwater was sent tumbling inside the box, and again in the second when Hector Bellerin felled Ahmed Musa.
Referee Mark Clattenburg waved away both shouts, however, with neither side being able to take their other openings to pave the way for a stalemate in the East Midlands.
Relive how the 90 minutes of action unfolded with Sports Mole's live text coverage below.
Hello and welcome to Sports Mole's live text coverage of the Premier League meeting between Leicester City and Arsenal at the King Power Stadium. Last season's top-two sides face off in the East Midlands aiming to bounce back from their respective opening-game defeats seven days ago.
For the first time since 1953-54, both of the previous campaign's top two fell to defeat in their top-flight openers, putting added significance on this early potential title decider. Exactly where these sides will finish come next May remains to be seen, but it is fair to say that the pressure is certainly on the Gunners to go one step further than last time around.
They may have ended their campaign on a 10-game unbeaten run, overtaking a slack Tottenham Hotspur side in the process, yet for Arsenal supporters it was a sense of same old as they missed out on the title and were instead left to celebrate their great rivals' misery. Arsene Wenger did point out in the summer that it continued a year-on-year improvement – fourth, third, second – but that sequence will likely have to be extended into a fourth season if he is to vindicate a new contract.
The 4-3 defeat to Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium was almost expected last weekend. A makeshift centre-back duo, which included the often-overlooked Calum Chambers and a £2.5m summer signing from League One Bolton Wanderers in Rob Holding, fell apart at times against a more-prolific Liverpool side. That means, incredibly, that the pressure is on Wenger just one game into this new campaign.
This is the last season left to run on the latest contract signed by the Frenchman a couple of years back and, with less than nine months before his terms expire, we are still no closer to knowing whether he will still be in charge come this time next year. The general consensus remains that Wenger has taken the club as far as he possibly can, although some still believe that the longest-serving boss in England's top flight by quite some distance has one more title left to offer.
Either way, Arsenal quite simply need to recruit more players before the transfer window closes for business in 11 days' time. A centre-back must have been at the top of that list for quite some time following the loss of Gabriel Paulista and Per Mertesacker to injury, not to mention the prolonged absence of Laurent Koscielny heading into the season, but German centre-back – and reported top target - Shkodran Mustafi does not appear to be any closer to making a switch from Valencia to North London.
A striker is also required, with many again questioning just why Wenger did not go all out to land Alexandre Lacazette from Lyon during the off-season. The Lyon forward has struck five goals in two games now thanks to his brace against Caen on Friday evening – a rate that will, understandably, likely drop in the Premier League, but still gives the Gunners further firepower to compliment – or indeed replace – Olivier Giroud up top.
This slow start to the season and the constant talk around a lack of signings is nothing new as far as Arsenal supporters are concerned, though. The likes of Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil have indeed come in over the past few years, but last year went a long way to showing that more top-class players are required if a title charge is to be sustained over the duration of a season, and not just in the closing months when the leaders are out of touching distance.
Wenger has insisted once again this week that he is not afraid to spend money, but is only interested in bringing in players who provide good value for money. Well, Mr. Wenger, value for money is extremely tough to come by these days - £50m for John Stones, anyone?! - but English clubs quite simply have to hand over massive sums of money these days if they are to bring in the players required to strengthen their squads.
There may well be a sense of jealousy around the Emirates Stadium, too, at having missed out on the likes of Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp, Antonio Conte and, to a lesser extent, Jose Mourinho over the past few months. For now Arsenal must make do with what they have, bar any signings made over the next week-and-a-half which still appear to be as far away as ever. This evening's result could well dictate exactly how much is splashed out to bring in a new face to join £30m Granit Xhaka.
DID YOU KNOW? Leicester City and Arsenal, who finished first and second respectively last season, both lost their opening top-flight fixtures this term – the first time that has happened in 63 years. The Gunners have not actually lost their first two matches of a league campaign since 1992, although slow starts do now appear to be the North-London outfit's forte under Wenger – just the one opening-day win in four attempts.
A bonus stat for you now. Arsenal can claim four hat-trick scorers against Leicester in the Premier League – Dennis Bergkamp, Nicolas Anelka, Thierry Henry and, most recently, Alexis Sanchez. Only Manchester United can rival that against one particular club, having also had four hat-trick scorers in their meetings with Newcastle United down the years. That Sanchez treble came here last term, of course, as the Gunners inflicted the first and last of City's home defeats.
For all the talk of Leicester's incredible title win last time out, it must be remembered that they did lose just the three matches all term – an incredible feat that puts them among the greatest-ever champions. Arsenal can hold claim to two of those victories, including a 5-2 thriller here at the end of September, although that was not enough to derail the Foxes' title bid which went all the way.
Tottenham had been City's biggest challengers in the final two months of the season, yet it was Arsenal who finished second – a full 10 points behind the Foxes and never really in sight from February onwards. Winning the title was an incredible achievement in itself, of course, but retaining it would surely take things up another level. The first game in the bid to do exactly that ended in a disappointing defeat in last week's opener, as Hull City ran out 2-1 winners at the KCOM Stadium.
The question now is whether that is a sign of things to come, as many are predicting, or in fact a mere opening-day slip-up on the back of a rather underwhelming pre-season campaign which saw them ship countless goals against some of European football's heavyweight names. We may get an answer to that over the next couple of hours, with Claudio Ranieri now challenging his side to bag 82 points this campaign – one more than last season's tally.
That is quite some turnaround from the Italian, who claimed in pre-season that there was more chance of seeing ET in London than Leicester retaining the title. Well Ranieri certainly knows how to get the best out of his players, as witnessed through all 10 months of last season, and he has told his group to forget about the opening-game setback and instead focus on returning to winning ways on home soil here this evening. A pivotal game already for Leicester, then, just two games in.
As touched upon a little earlier, no Premier League champion has ever lost the opening game of their title defence. Only two teams in the history of the English top flight have lost their opening two games, in fact, so the Foxes will be looking to avoid making a piece of history of the wrong kind this evening. Going further back – and this is by no means intended as a sign of things to come – no top-flight title-winning team has ever lost all three opening games of the following season.
Leicester have, on the whole, done very well during the transfer window. A large number of those responsible for last season's impressive triumph have been tied down to long-term deals, including Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez who put pen to paper at opposite ends of the summer. Both reportedly rejected the advances of today's opponents, instead wanting to remain in the East Midlands to help create a bit more history for their side.
The loss of N'Golo Kante really will be hard to recover from, however, with the France international very much providing the workload of two midfielders in the engine room. City struggled in that department last week, with their like-for-like replacement Nampalys Mendy missing out due to the birth of his child. Ahmed Musa is the other big-name arrival, only going to strengthen Leicester's Plan A with further pace on the counter - the early signs are certainly highly encouraging.
PREVIOUS MEETINGS! Leicester City are currently on a 19-game winless run against Arsenal in the Premier League, losing 13 of those – including that aforementioned double last season. Only Newcastle United can match that poor English top-flight record, with their run against Manchester City also standing at 19 games. Furthermore, the Gunners have never tasted defeat at the King Power Stadium.
Leicester lost just three games throughout the course of last season, two of which came at the hands of today's opponents Arsenal. The Foxes may have lost that battle, but they certainly won the war when going all the way to win the title by a clear margin of 10 points. Ranieri also kept hold of Mahrez and Vardy this summer, both of whom rejected the advances of Arsenal.
With a little under 20 minutes to go until kickoff, let us check out some of the pre-match thoughts from both camps.
Claudio Ranieri: "We are now in the Champions League and we need something more to play against the big teams. Now [Mahrez] knows very well what I want and my expectations are higher. Not only for Riyad but for all my players. He signed for four years, me too because I want to build. He wants to build something; Jamie [Vardy] wants to, Kasper [Schmeichel], everybody. It is good."
Arsene Wenger: "We have plenty of players who want to join us and I would say that even with the players who left, 99.5% of the players have asked to come back even when they left. It's not so difficult to attract players. You are absolutely convinced that I do not want to spend the money, but I reassure you we are ready to spend the money. What I fight against is to think that the only way in football is to buy. To buy in itself is not a quality but to buy the good players is a quality, and I think this club has been built on that."
With the scene now set, it seems like a good time to check out some team news from the King Power Stadium, starting with home side Leicester.
LEICESTER CITY TEAM NEWS!
STARTING XI: Schmeichel; Simpson, Huth, Morgan, Fuchs; Mahrez, Drinkwater, Mendy, Albrighton; Okazaki, Vardy
SUBS: Hernandez, Musa, King, Amartey, Zieler, Gray, Ulloa
I make that four changes for the home side, with Robert Huth among those to return to the side from last time out following his three-match ban picked up at the back end of last season. Huth will fit in alongside Wes Morgan in the heart of defence and provide the Foxes with a little more stability, which we did not really see a great deal of on Humberside seven days ago.
Mendy also comes in, as expected, having been forced to pull out of last week's squad due to the birth of his child - priorities an all that! He will take the place of Andy King, who certainly adds a different dimension to this Foxes side but not the steel that Mendy brings. Marc Albrighton and Shinji Okazaki are the other two players brought back in, with the formation seemingly remaining as 4-4-2.
Luis Hernandez, Ahmed Musa and Demarai Gray join King in dropping out of the side, with the absence of Musa in particular a little surprising for me. The summer signing really got at Barcelona, Manchester United and Hull in the games we have so far seen him in, although perhaps Ranieri is keeping him until the Arsenal backline is a little tired and less alert. Leonardo Ulloa is the other back-up option in attack, meanwhile.
ARSENAL TEAM NEWS!
STARTING XI: Cech; Bellerin, Holding, Koscielny, Monreal; Coquelin, Cazorla; Xhaka, Walcott, Oxlade-Chamberlain; Sanchez
SUBS: Ospina, Chambers, Gibbs, Elneny, Wilshere, Ozil, Giroud
The big news for Arsenal is that Lauren Koscielny returns in the heart of defence, taking the captain's armband and starting alongside youngster Rob Holding. It was always going to be interesting to see which of Holding or Calum Chambers was dropped if the Frenchman did indeed return, with Wenger showing faith in the summer arrival from Bolton Wanderers.
Granit Xhaka is handed his first start in a deep defensive role, meanwhile, alongside Francis Coquelin who will have a key role to play this evening no doubt. It may well be a 4-2-3-1 formation for the Gunners, but more likely is a 4-3-3 with Santi Cazorla completing the midfield trio behind Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Alexis Sanchez through the middle.
Jack Wilshere is back in contention for Arsenal this evening, but only among the subs for the Gunners. Mesut Ozil and Olivier Giroud are also back on the bench, with Wenger taking a "gamble" on including three of his returning Euro 2016 stars this evening; Koscielny the only one of which starts.
KICKOFF! Superb atmosphere around the King Power Stadium this evening, as last season's champions takes on last season's runners-up. Arsenal looking more stable at the back with the inclusion of Koscielny, as well as a much stronger bench, while Leicester City have reverted largely to the team that won them the title.
Eleven seconds into the game and Holding is forced to make a challenge on Vardy inside the area, with the subsequent corner worked towards Morgan who cannot quite connect at the back post.
The ball breaks nicely for Cazorla, who sees his shot deflect wide of goal. May have been better off playing in Oxlade-Chamberlain, but a corner nonetheless which comes to nothing. Incredibly open start to the game.
Arsenal the side now on top following those real frenetic opening few minutes to the game. A party atmosphere of sorts at the King Power Stadium this afternoon; supporters making the most of their first home outing since ending the last title-winning campaign.
A free kick towards Oxlade-Chamberlain is well overhit and the Englishman cannot make anything of it. Wenger will be happy with the start his side have made in the East Midlands, as they look to take control of things and expose City at the back.
Okazaki so nearly making something out of nothing with his energetic play. Leicester missed him at times last weekend but the Japan international is back in this evening, taking the place of Ahmed Musa just off Jamie Vardy in attack.
Arsenal work a good crossing position but, without Giroud in the box, there is nobody to really aim for once more. Alexis is leading the line this evening, flanked by Walcott and Oxlade-Chamberlain either side like we saw in that defeat to Liverpool.
Xhaka and Coquelin already having to work overtime to stop Okazaki creating anything in that final third. Mahrez wriggles away from Monreal down the Leicester right, but his cross has far too much on it and it goes straight out of play.
Arsenal now looking to knock the ball into the final third of the field, which will not concern the hosts too much as they thrive on counter-attacking football. The atmosphere around the King Power Stadium has yet to drop at any stage - supporters really up for this one.
Arsenal get in behind the opposition backline for the first time, as Bellerin is played through down the right. The Spaniard looks up but cannot pick out Walcott, instead picking out a Leicester player to clear away the danger.
Still awaiting our first real chance of the match at the King Power Stadium, but it is the visitors who are the ones finding gaps in the final third. Ranieri will not be too concerned yet, though, with the Gunners yet to test Schmeichel.
Arsenal again make inroads down the right-hand side, with Walcott lofting a ball into a central position to nobody in particular. The Gunners could really do with some height in the box at this stage, but the play is certainly positive from the visitors' perspective.
YELLOW CARD! Xhaka with a fine challenge to win the ball back for his side, but Coquelin mistimes his when up against Vardy and earns the game's booking. Now walking a tightrope, so to speak, for the next 70 minutes or so.
SHOT! Leicester are struggling to get any sort of grip on the contest in the opening quarter, instead having to sit back a fair bit as Arsenal keep coming at them. The first attempt of the match comes in from Oxlade-Chamberlain, who works some space on the edge of the box and curls narrowly wide.
City need Drinkwater on the ball a little more to create an attacking move from midfield. Not seen a great deal of him, Mahrez or Vardy so far, although there is plenty of time for that to change of course.
Just not quite happening for the Foxes at the moment, but Vardy did use his pace to get on the end of a searching pass a few moments ago to perhaps offer a glimmer of hope. Not a great deal for Holding to do since his challenge inside the opening minute.
As was so often the case last season, Monreal and Bellerin are popping up in good positions at the King Power Stadium. The latter decides against crossing on this occasion, though, which proves to be the wrong choice. Giroud will no doubt be brought on at some stage.
SAVE! Schmeichel is needed to pull off a big save to deny Sanchez what would have been a freak goal. We see it some often these days - a free kick from long range going right through without a touch and towards the back of the net. Big stop from the Dane - the first of the match so far.
SAVE! A second save in quick succession for Schmeichel to make, again keeping out Cazorla who was left in plenty of space 20 yards from goal. Prior to that, Mahrez's cross was handled well by Cech who had Vardy breathing down his neck.
No question that Arsenal have been the better side so far in this Saturday evening Premier League kickoff. We have already seen Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City take maximum points, so both Leicester and Arsenal will be desperate for a win of their own.
A real battle in midfield at the moment, which Arsenal have won on this latest occasion. Alexis on his own up top - hardly the finest of target men to pick out in a direct manner. Leicester still waiting for their first attempt on goal.
Koscielny making his experience known as he defends a cross into the box - not for the first time today, it must be said. Huth's lack of concentration at the back has just gifted Arsenal a corner, but can they make the most of it?
PENALTY APPEAL! A huge moment in this match, as Leicester counter-attack for pretty much the first time today and look to have won themselves a penalty at the end of it. Cech initially rushes out to rescue his side, but Koscielny lunged in on Drinkwater. Clattenburg says no pen; replays inconclusive.
YELLOW CARD! Nampalys Mendy is shown a yellow card for a foul in the Arsenal half. One minute of added time to come, with home fans still furious about the lack of a penalty for that Koscielny challenge.
HALF TIME: LEICESTER CITY 0-0 ARSENAL
Mark Clatternburg brings the first half to a close, which is greeted by strong displeasure from home supporters to say the least. Not because of the display of their side, but more so down to the huge decision made by the official just moments before the interval.
Arsene Wenger took the decision to rush Laurent Koscielny back for his first appearance of the season, partnering the Frenchman alongside the inexperienced Rob Holding in defence. Holding, preferred to Calum Chambers in the heart of the Gunners' backline, was forced into making a big challenge just 11 seconds into the match. The signs may have been ominous, but it was Arsenal who had the better of things as they made good inroads down both flanks.
It took all of 25 minutes for the first attempt to arrive, however, as Alexis Sanchez sent in a free kick from deep that went right the way through and required a big dive from Kasper Schmeichel to push it aside. Sanchez, fielded as the focal point in the Gunners' attack once more this evening, came close again moments later when working a yard of space and firing a shot on goal from the edge of the box.
The visitors were on top for large parts of the opening 45 minutes, but it was Leicester who felt that they should have been given a penalty to open the scoring when Koscielny brought down Danny Drinkwater inside the box on the brink of the interval. Petr Cech initially did well to get to the ball ahead of Jamie Vardy to prevent the Englishman rounding him, but the ball fell into the path of Drinkwater who went down inside the box, although Mark Clattenburg felt the ball was taken fairly. I've seen the replay about 15 times and I'm still not sure.
Arsenal the better side in the first half overall, then, but Leicester City maybe should have had a penalty late in the half. Will either manager be tempted to make a change at the interval?
LEICESTER CITY SUBS: Hernandez, Musa, King, Amartey, Zieler, Gray, Ulloa
ARSENAL SUBS: Ospina, Chambers, Gibbs, Elneny, Wilshere, Ozil, Giroud
RESTART! Vardy still discussing that penalty call with Clattenburg as the two teams make their way back down the tunnel. The general consensus seems to be that the man in the middle made the only call he could - a near impossible decision to make with the bodies between him and the ball.
Albrighton sends in an early cross for Cech to collect in a comfortable manner. Coquelin was covering well there and giving his opponent little time on the ball. No changes made by either manager at the break, incidentally, so it is as you were on that front.
A potential blow for Leicester here, as Mendy gets his boots stuck in the turf when at full stretch and stays down on the pitch. Losing him really would be tough for Ranieri to take, with the summer signing a direct replacement for Kante.
Mendy is able to hobble off the pitch, but whether he comes back on remains to be seen. The Leicester physios just taking their time to make a decision, although it seems certain that he will be replaced for the remainder of this one.
LEICESTER CITY SUB! Mendy comes back on but is quickly on the ground holding his ankle - evening over for the Frenchman. Andy King the man to replace him in a like-for-like change in terms of position, but the Welshman does make more forward runs.
SHOT! Another massive decision goes against Leicester, this time when Coquelin - already on a yellow - clatters into Mahrez 25 yards from goal. That quite simply had to be a caution for the midfielder, who is lucky to stay on. Mahrez blasts the free kick narrowly over.
SHOT! Arsenal have finally woken up in this second half, with a charge down the left ending with the ball being cut back to the edge of the box for Bellerin to meet. It looked for all the world as though the Spaniard was about to hoof it on the half-volley, but he did brilliantly to test Schmeichel.
Schmeichel again in action to gather the ball ahead of Schmeichel. Such an open feel to the game now, with neither side being able to show that extra bit of quality inside the box to find a way through.
Koscielny again gets in the way of a shot, showing just how important he is at the back for Arsenal. Holding also looking more assured this evening compared to last week, although Leicester are far from their best in the attacking third.
Okazaki makes a good run but the ball is just about cut out before it can reach him. Ulloa now being readied on the sidelines for Leicester, while Arsenal may be about to turn to Giroud and Ozil for the remaining 25 minutes of this tight affair.
Andy King gives away possession to Sanchez, who is through on goal if he can get the better of Huth. The returning Leicester defender gets the better of that battle, though, and Arsenal's frustrations mount as we hit the 66-minute mark.
Arsenal go for a more direct route over the top to find Walcott, who is unable to keep the ball in play. A change much needed right about now, and it comes via Leicester - Ulloa replacing Okazaki to give a different option alongside Vardy.
Another chance for Leicester to counter, but Mahrez is unable to get away from the equally-as-pacy Bellerin. The Algerian rather panicked and saw his pass intercepted before it could reach Vardy. This game is crying out for a goal!
CHANCE! Vardy gets the ball and is on one of his trademark bursts through from an angled position. The Englishman was under real pressure from a lunging Koscielny, however, and could only blast the ball wide. Big chance!
ARSENAL SUBS! A double chance made by Wenger, who brings on both Ozil and Wilshere in the final quarter of the contest. Cazorla and Xhaka the men to make way for the Gunners, as Koscielny makes yet another crucial block at the back.
SAVE! Some good, quick passing from Arsenal culminates with Walcott getting a shot on goal with his right boot. Not enough power or precision behind it, though, and it is comfortably collected by Schmeichel in the centre of the target.
Ozil looking to make an instant impact in the East Midlands, but his cross is deflected into the hands of Schmeichel. Arsenal had six players inside the box but nobody really moving to make themselves available. Not sure why Giroud has yet to have been introduced.
ARSENAL SUB! Giroud is at long last brought on for Oxlade-Chamberlain, in a game that has been crying out for his aerial threat. Arsenal making plenty of openings down both flanks, but have just been unable to do anything with the ball once it is worked into the box.
Wilshere sends a teasing ball right across the face of goal, which somehow goes right through without a touch. Leicester been pegged back for a long time now, unable to get out of their own half. Walcott was in a moment or so ago but Morgan did superbly to block the shot.
Arsenal still largely dominating the ball in the final third of the field, but Leicester are also enjoying some space to break into. Six minutes to go at the King Power Stadium and, despite being goalless so far, a key opener does feel like it may arrive.
Ozil's shot is kept out by Schmeichel from a very tight angle - whether or not it would have trickled over the line we will never know. Ranieri deciding against using his final change, but some pace would be welcome now for Leicester as they look to counter.
LEICESTER CITY SUB! Ahmed Musa is given just two minutes to impress here - a strange call from Ranieri, but who am I to question a title-winning manager? Albrighton the man to make way for the Foxes, who will now tinker with things slightly.
PENALTY APPEAL! Leicester have a second penalty shout turned down in the final minute of normal time. Musa was sent to ground by Bellerin who just made contact inside the box. This one did look to be a penalty, more so than the one in the first half, but Mark Clattenburg feels otherwise.
CHANCE! This game is just non-stop end-to-end! Mahrez works his way through on goal, but cannot squeeze the ball past Cech who has just rescued his side a point from this match. A yellow now shown to Holding in the final minute of the match, with Leicester being given a chance to take on the free kick from 25 yards out.
FULL TIME: LEICESTER CITY 0-0 ARSENAL
And breath! Clattenburg, the man at the centre of things this evening, brings a close to one of the more action-packed goalless draws you are likely to witness. Arsenal edged things in terms of the chances across the 90 minutes, but Leicester City did have two big penalty shouts turned down - including one right at the end of the goalless affair.
Well that concludes Sports Mole's live text coverage of events at the King Power Stadium, but be sure to check out this on-the-whistle report before heading off. We will be back tomorrow afternoon with more updates from the Premier League. See you then!
