No one could have expected Leicester City to top the
Premier League table in December but that is exactly
the case approaching Christmas.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said Leicester City's dream
this season is good for football "all over the world".
Leicester surprisingly top of the Premier League table after 16
games and hold a two-point advantage over Arsenal.
The league leaders have only lost once this season - a 5-2
defeat at the hands of Wenger's men in September.
And Wenger believes their spectacular run is good for world
football.
"Of course it is good for English football," he said. "Not only for
English football, it’s good for everybody in football all over the
world to see teams who are not on the biggest budget at the
start, that they can compete as well.
"There's always a way to be successful when you're intelligent
and competent. Of course that’s very positive and they've
shown another fantastic performance on Monday night.
"I always took them seriously as title contenders but when we
won 5-2 over there, nobody took our performance seriously.
"They just thought it was normal that we won at Leicester, but
ever since you have been able to see that it was a great result
and a great performance on the day."
Arsenal face third-placed Manchester City on Monday but
Wenger downplayed its importance in the title race.
"No, we are in December, we are not fighting for the Premier
League on Monday night," he said.
"What you look at is of course to nullify the individual quality
they have offensively, that will be vital for us to find a good
balance between defending well as a team and expressing our
way to go forward. But you cannot ignore the individual quality
they have up front.
"If we win, it will boost our chances of course to go to the top. It
is a massive game and when you play at home you want to win
because we ambitious and we feel over Christmas we play
many home games and our strength and we have the chance to
come out in a strong position after Christmas.
"It will be a very tight game because if you look at the numbers
since the start of the season, offensively and defensively the
numbers are very close."
Premier League table in December but that is exactly
the case approaching Christmas.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said Leicester City's dream
this season is good for football "all over the world".
Leicester surprisingly top of the Premier League table after 16
games and hold a two-point advantage over Arsenal.
The league leaders have only lost once this season - a 5-2
defeat at the hands of Wenger's men in September.
And Wenger believes their spectacular run is good for world
football.
"Of course it is good for English football," he said. "Not only for
English football, it’s good for everybody in football all over the
world to see teams who are not on the biggest budget at the
start, that they can compete as well.
"There's always a way to be successful when you're intelligent
and competent. Of course that’s very positive and they've
shown another fantastic performance on Monday night.
"I always took them seriously as title contenders but when we
won 5-2 over there, nobody took our performance seriously.
"They just thought it was normal that we won at Leicester, but
ever since you have been able to see that it was a great result
and a great performance on the day."
Arsenal face third-placed Manchester City on Monday but
Wenger downplayed its importance in the title race.
"No, we are in December, we are not fighting for the Premier
League on Monday night," he said.
"What you look at is of course to nullify the individual quality
they have offensively, that will be vital for us to find a good
balance between defending well as a team and expressing our
way to go forward. But you cannot ignore the individual quality
they have up front.
"If we win, it will boost our chances of course to go to the top. It
is a massive game and when you play at home you want to win
because we ambitious and we feel over Christmas we play
many home games and our strength and we have the chance to
come out in a strong position after Christmas.
"It will be a very tight game because if you look at the numbers
since the start of the season, offensively and defensively the
numbers are very close."
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