Leicester’s fantastic victory at Manchester City has created an element of breathing space at the top of the Premier League table, but they have another opportunity to prove they are champions in the making when they travel to the Emirates Stadium to face Arsenal. It could prove to be a pivotal weekend of fixtures as far as the title race is concerned, with Manchester City and Tottenham, who make up the current top four, meeting at the Etihad Stadium just four hours later in a monumental clash that both teams dare not lose. All eyes, however, are on Leicester who have been a revelation this season, with Claudio Ranieri’s side exceeding all, including their own, expectations by finding themselves five points clear which could extend to as much as seven if results go their way. It is perhaps not surprising that Betway and other bookmakers have started to take Leicester’s title chances seriously by installing them as favourites in the current football odds to complete what would be a fairytale story, but they face an Arsenal side that are usually at their ominous, free-flowing best on home soil and have the quality to beat anyone on their day.

Leicester may be favourites to win the league, but with another challenging away fixture against a title rival, is there any chance that the odds are on their side? Not according to Betway, who have Arsenal as clear 4/6 favourites to pick up a valuable three points, while the Foxes are as far out as 4/1 in the latest football odds to remain at least five points clear. It is perhaps surprising giving the current form of both teams, but the fact that Arsenal have conceded just seven goals at home this season and are looking for back-to-back victories against the Foxes following their 5-2 victory at the King Power Stadium in late September may have convinced bookmakers that the Gunners have the beating of Leicester.

The Foxes go into the game as the in-form team, having won their last three games on the spin and are unbeaten in seven Premier League fixtures, with Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez continuing to fire on all cylinders. Although Leicester’s prized assets have won many of the plaudits this season, their success has been predominately built upon a collective team effort and superb work ethic, with Danny Drinkwater and Ngolo Kante among the number of unsung heroes amongst their ranks. The manner in which they blew Manchester City away in their own back yard illustrated the confidence flowing throughout the team, with their ability to defend as a solid unit and attack with pace and intent creating a recipe for success. Leicester may be considered extremely fortunate to have avoided the number of injuries that many of their Premier League counterparts have, but while Ranieri may name the same starting line-up for the sixth game in a row, they are top of the league on merit.

Last weekend’s much-needed 2-0 win at Bournemouth came at a crucial time for Arsenal who were beginning to show signs of cracking under the pressure. First-half goals from Mesut Ozil and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain proved decisive, but only a number of top saves from Petr Cech denied Bournemouth from getting back into the game as Arsenal nearly paid the price for taking their foot off the pedal. It ended a barren spell of four games without a win and three without a goal – both are uncharacteristic of a side that clearly possess the quality to challenge at the top, but question marks remains over whether they have the mentality to stand up and be counted when the spotlight is on them. However, it is difficult to write off Arsenal, especially with Ozil in superb form this season and a number of stand-out performances from Cech who could turn out to be the signing of the summer.

Neither team have any fresh injury concerns or suspensions to worry about, although Arsene Wenger may be tempted to make a couple of changes to his line-up. Francis Coquelin and Theo Walcott are pushing for recalls after starting on the bench at Bournemouth, with both players likely to take the place of Mathieu Flamini and Oxlade-Chamberlain as the two teams take to the pitch at the Emirates Stadium in a huge clash that could push Leicester closer towards the title, or blow the race wide open.