Arsenal 2-2 Leicester LIVE: Danny Welbeck squares things up before the break

51: Mesut Ozil, who’s been buzzing around more than usual, collects the ball on the edge of the box but drags his effort wide. I’d recommend he leaves those for Granit Xhaka next time…

48: Leicester win an early corner but it’s cleared. There’s still a sense of nervousness whenever Arsenal concede a set-piece. You would think Arsene Wenger would have resolved that by now.

45: We’re back underway folks. No changes for either side. Let’s hope there’s no changes in the excitement levels.

TWITTER ROUND-UP

Daniel: Currently on a train but what I seem to have taken from that first half is that football is good. Who’d have thought?

Luka: Rob Holding was one of the finds of the season last term but is having a nightmare so far.

Sanchit: Impressed with Ozil and Xhaka so far; Ozil creates magic! But still an even match Lets see who nicks it!

HT: Breathless, exhilarating, intoxicating, electrifying… pick your own adjective out of that bunch. They all deserve to be used to describe that half.

It’s great for the neutral, but Craig Shakespeare and Arsene Wenger will be concerned at how easily their sides have leaked.

What did Sir Alex Ferguson say? Attack wins you games, defence wins you titles…

47:  ARSENAL 2 – 2 LEICESTER – WELBECK

Sigh of relief? There’s more than a sigh of relief as Danny Welbeck squares things up on the stroke of half-time.

Lacazette sees his snapshot blocked, but it falls kindly for Kolasinac, who squares for Welbeck to tap into an empty net.

Four goals in 45 minutes? I love the Premier League.

46: Leicester end the closing stages on the front-foot after yet another set-piece from Marc Albrighton. There’s a huge sigh of relief inside the stadium as Mike Dean spots an infringement.

44: Penalty appeal! Hmmm, that’s going to be a talking point. Kolasinac receives the ball at the back post and his cross strikes the hand of Ndidi.

Would have been a little harsh given how close the midfielder was, but I’ve seen them given.

42: Quite nice to see Leicester getting back to basics. There’s less of the fancy stuff in the middle, and more of the title-winning smash it forward for Jamie Vardy to chase like an animal who hasn’t eaten in three weeks.

39: The Sky cameras couldn’t help but pan to Alexis Sanchez sitting beside his missus (we’ll talk about that later) looking distinctly unimpressed.

Will he be around this season to bail the Gunners out of these situations?

36: Arsenal are allowing Leicester acres of space on the left flank. Hector Bellerin isn’t paying any attention to Marc Albrighton, who’s being allowed to cross whenever he feels like it.

34: Leicester go close to making it 3-1 but Okazaki’s header drifts narrowly past the post. Arsenal need to sort out this defence, quick.

30:  ARSENAL 1 – 2 LEICESTER – VARDY

Oh Arsenal! They are the masters of their downfall, they really are.

The defence spend a few minutes passing it around before Xhaka loses possession cheaply.

Albrighton finds Jamie Vardy with a sensational cross, and the England international clinically finishes from close range.

All change please, all change…

28: Arsenal are dominating proceedings, but haven’t found that killer touch yet.

Alexandre Lacazette is doing a good job of drawing defenders and running in behind to create space for Welbeck and Ozil. Not something you’d normally get with Olivier Giroud.

Another golden opportunity goes begging. Danny Welbeck weaves his way into the area but his shot is blocked and Leicester scramble it away.

25: Close! Harry Maguire, who’s been involved a hell of a lot already, makes a last-ditch block to prevent Danny Welbeck from slamming home Ozil’s pass. Paying off that £17million already, eh?

23: Harry Maguire gets a ticking off from Dean for bringing down Lacazette, who was marching his way through the Leicester defence. Not quite yellow card worthy, but I can’t imagine it’ll stay that way. Last chance saloon for the giant.

20: Yes, I am throwing a tantrum about being stripped of Kolasinac’s clean sheet. But I’m a professional and will cry about it later.

Anyway, The Ox drives down the left flank and delivers a decent cutback into the area but Bellerin stands on Albrighton’s foot just before connecting with the loose ball and Mike Dean blows his whistle.

16: Mahrez throws his toys out of the pram as Kolasinac harries (perhaps even shoves) him off the ball. He’s called Tank for a reason, Riyad. The Emirates often takes a kicking for the lack of atmosphere, but it’s certainly not lacking tonight. Everyone’s up for this.

13: Leicester don’t look overawed by Arsenal, and why should they? They were Premier League champions! Riyad Mahrez produces some fancy footwork but his cross is cleared by the head of Rob Holding.

10: What a great signing Harry Maguire looks, in an attacking sense at least. He’s a monster in the area. I can see him causing many a problem for defenders this season.

Arsenal look to regain their advantage but Oxlade-Chamberlain pings one over the bar from 18-yards out.

8: I’d barely taken a sip of my tea before all hell broke loose there. What an incredible start to the Premier League season.

5:  ARSENAL 1 – 1 LEICESTER – OKAZAKI

This season is going to be crazy…

Leicester have taken less than two minutes to equalise.

Albrighton’s cross is headed back across goal by Maguire and Okazaki’s there to nod home from point-blank range.

Arsenal’s defence didn’t react quickly enough, and looked pretty disorganised truth be told.

2: ARSENAL 1 – 0 LEICESTER – LACAZETTE

Well, that was quick…

Can Alexandre Lacazette cut it in the Premier League? It certainly looks that way.

The expensive French signing connects beautifully with Elneny’s cross to head beyond the outstretched Schmeichel.

Cracking header, cracking start for Arsene Wenger’s side.

1: ARSENAL 0 – 0 LEICESTER

Martin Tyler screams “AND IT’S LIVE,” which obviously means we’re underway! Let the mayhem begin… Incidentally, this is Matty James’ first Leicester game for 825 days. Good luck, Matty…

19:43: Here we go then. The players are emerging from the tunnel now. All that’s left are those pointless handshakes and the climactic music.

Fasten your seatbelts folks.

19:40: On a more serious note, fans at tonight’s game have been paying tribute to Bradley Lowery, who passed away over the summer, by wearing shirts with his name printed on the back.

Top gesture.

19:38: You’ll be thrilled to hear that Sead Kolasinac likes the nickname ‘Tank.’

Who the hell wouldn’t? 

Theo Walcott coined the nickname after the Community Shield victory on Sunday because of the Bosnian international’s physical attributes and work-ethic.

Asked his thoughts on the name, Kolasinac said: “In Bosnia they call me The Tank too! I’m happy to have such a cool nickname.”

19:35: After months of blood, sweat and tears – this is the Fantasy Football team that I’ve managed to put together.

Let me know via Twitter (@jamie_anderson3) who you’re starting with tonight. 

19:30: Gary Neville managed to bag himself an interview with Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis.

Here’s what he had to say.

“The excitement is always there, Gary. But it’s not the excitement of being the chairman of Arsenal, it’s the excitement you have when you’re a five-year-old boy and your Dad is taking you to the first game of the season.

“All the hope, all the expectation, all the nerves, it’s all there the same as when you’re a kid. I love that feeling. I love the opening day of the season.”

19:25: I can’t believe we’re discussing this before a ball’s even been kicked, but is Craig Shakespeare vulnerable to the axe?

Steadying the ship at the King Power Stadium following Claudio Ranieri’s sacking was one thing – but delivering what the Thai owners want for the Foxes is a whole different challenge for Shakespeare.

Working under Ranieri as the Italian delivered the impossible dream of a Premier League title, he was thrust into the spotlight when handed control on a temporary basis.

A 12th-placed finish and a decent run in Europe landed him the job full-time but, with nearly £60million invested in fresh talent, Shakespeare now needs to show he is the man for all occasions.

19:20: Analysis from our reporter Matt Dunn, at the Emirates.

I say, I say, I say.

In his programme notes Wenger writes: “You would say that you will say that you can interview eight managers who can say to you, ‘I want to win the league this year’, and all have legitimate arguments to say that.”

Well, thankfully, it is time for the talk to stop and the action to take over – although traditionally Arsenal take while to get into their stride.

Just one win in their last seven opening Premier League games does not augur well against a Leicester side still containing the big names that many feared would be leaving over the summer.

TWITTER ROUND-UP

Haz: Maybe I’m missing something. But why is Matty James in the starting line up?!

David: Got food, loads of Guinness… gonna sit and shout Wenger Out at the TV for the next 2 hours.

Rob: The good thing about being a @Arsenal fan is at least every season is differ… oh! #GroundhogDay

19:10: Ahh, the familiar sight of Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville arguing on the touchline. It’s like they never left our screens.

They aren’t actually bickering. They are agreeing that plenty has changed around the Emirates, but not enough to see Arsene Wenger’s side challenge for the Premier League title.

Gettin’ those kidney jabs in early, lads.

19:05: Analysis from our reporter Matt Dunn, at the Emirates.

Alexandre Lacazette gets an early chance to respond to his manager’s challenge to match Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s impact on the Premier League – technically that gives him 64 minutes to score his first goal.

Arsenal’s other summer signing Sead Kolasinac also makes his debut and Mesut Ozil, who missed the Community Shield match against Chelsea, is also in an attacking-looking starting line-up which also includes Danny Welbeck.

Harry Maguire makes his Leicester debut and Riyad Mahrez also plays what speculation suggests might be one of his last games for the Foxes. Or not, depending who you believe.

19:00: And turning our attentions to Craig Shakespeare’s side.

Harry Maguire makes his league debut for the Foxes following his arrival from Hull earlier this summer.

Other new recruit Kelechi Iheanacho is on the bench, but we all know what a difference he makes in the closing stages.

Interestingly Riyad Mahrez starts despite the uncertainty surrounding his future, while the lesser-spotted Matty James has also been included.

18:55: Let’s go through Arsenal’s starting XI then.

Arsene Wenger has deployed a 3-4-3 with Rob Holding, Nacho Monreal and Sead Kolasinac as centre-backs.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlian and Hector Bellerin provide the width from full-back, with Mohamed Elneny and Granit Xhaka protecting the defence.

Mesut Ozil has recovered from a minor niggle to play alongside Danny Welbeck, who support summer signing Alexandre Lacazette.

Aaron Ramsey, Alex Iwobi, Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud have to settle for roles on the bench tonight.

18:50: How do we feel about those starting line-ups? I think most of the decisions were fairly obvious, although the inclusion of Matty James is somewhat surprising.

18:47: Here’s the starting XI’s folks.

Arsenal XI: Cech, Holding, Monreal, Kolasinac; Bellerin, Elneny, Xhaka, Oxlade-Chamberlain; Ozil, Welbeck; Lacazette.

Subs: Ramsey, Giroud, Ospina, Walcott, Iwobi, Mustafi, Coquelin.

Leicester XI: Schmeichel, Simpson, Morgan, Maguire, Fuchs, Mahrez, Ndidi, James, Albrighton, Okazaki, Vardy.

Subs: Chilwell, Gray, Iheanacho, King, Hamer, Amartey, Slimani.

18:45: It’s quite a simple poll tonight. Who will win the Premier League? The results will be revealed later tonight. Not that your votes will affect anything that happens on the pitch. This isn’t Strictly…

18:40: What about Leicester then. Well, Craig Shakespeare hopes Leicester can end their Arsenal hoodoo on Friday night.

Leicester have yet to beat the Gunners in the Premier League era with their last league win coming in 1983, while it is a decade further back since the last time the Foxes won away at Arsenal.

“The Premier League is the most competitive league in the world and Arsenal are one of the best clubs in it, year after year they’ve shown their consistency,” said Shakespeare.

“We haven’t been able to beat them yet but there’s always a first time and it would be nice to think it would be Friday night. The players are champing at the bit to get started.

“It will be difficult, with the quality of their players, their fan base and the money that they can spend, but that’s the Premier League.”

18:35: Want to hear what Jermaine Jenas thinks about Alexis Sanchez’s Arsenal future? Me neither, but I’m going to write it anyway.

Unsurprisingly, Jenas thinks the Gunners have to keep hold of him f they are to make any impression on the Premier League title race.

Genius, I know.

“I hope Arsenal stay strong and say ‘we don’t need your money, we need you here to get us back where we want to be and then you can go on a free,” BT Sport pundit Jenas said.

“I think Sanchez is worth that, even if you know you’d get £50million for him now and he’ll leave next summer on a free.

“This has happened before to Arsenal – think of Robin van Persie and Cesc Fabregas. Do they want it to happen again?”

Probably not, Jermain…

18:30: We’ve got around 15 minutes until we see those starting XI’s folks.

I’ll let you into a secret. I’ve got Sead Kolasinac in my Fantasy Football side. So, you’ve been warned that I WILL get pathetically excited if he scores tonight.

That’s IF he starts, of course…

18:25: No mention of transfer news? OK, here’s some that’s relatively fresh off the press.

Roma will not increase their offer for Leicester forward Riyad Mahrez, according to the Italian club’s director of football Monchi.

The Serie A side are reported to have seen what would amount to a club record bid turned down by the Foxes.

Now Roma are set to wait and see if Leicester will relent over the 26-year-old Algeria international who has attracted interest from Arsenal, Monaco and Barcelona in the past.

Monchi told a press conference ahead of Roma’s friendly with Celta Vigo on Sunday: “In the last press conference I said we had bid what we believe to be a fair offer, which is also the biggest in the club’s history. We won’t bid again.”

18:20: If you would like to get in touch to tell what a superb job I’m doing, you can get in contact via Twitter (@jamie_anderson3) or comment at the bottom of the page.

18:15: OK, not everything’s the same…

Despite finishing the campaign on a high with victory over Chelsea in the FA Cup final at Wembley, Arsenal fans are facing up to life in the Europa League after finishing outside the top four for the first time under Arsene Wenger.

To remedy that, Wenger has signed Alexandre Lacazette.

The 26-year-old France international boasted a goal every 86 minutes in Ligue 1 for Lyon last season and needs to replicate that form in the Premier League.

Still not made it into my Fantasy Football team though.

18:10: OK, enough of that lark, let’s focus on tonight’s match.

Arsenal welcome Leicester to the Emirates and will be looking to kick off their campaign with a victory.

After a tumultuous end to last season, things are surprisingly familiar in North London.

Arsene Wenger is still manager, Alexis Sanchez still hasn’t committed his future and everyone on the planet is still desperate to see Claude on ArsenalFanTV…

But Gunners fans will be happy if history doesn’t change tonight. They haven’t suffered defeat against Leicester since November 1994.

18:05: I think that was a suitably OTT introduction but let’s take it down a notch because keeping that tone would be exhausting. I’m not a machine.

But It’s difficult NOT to start one of these blogs without sounding like David Mitchell in ‘That Mitchell and Webb Look’ football sketch!

If you haven’t seen it, go and find it now. I’ll wait for you…

18:00: Gooooooood evening folks, welcome to our LIVE coverage of Arsenal v Leicester from the Emirates.

It’s been a testing summer with the Premier League in our lives.

Hours spent traipsing around shopping centres on a Saturday afternoon, and watching whatever crap the BBC find to to fill the 10:30pm slot.

It got to a stage where I genuinely missed the dull and monotonous tone of Michael Owen telling us that beating the opposition required scoring more goals…

Anyway, we longer no longer have to fill the silence – because it’s back!

Let’s get this thing started.

PREVIEW

Express Sport brings you LIVE coverage of tonight’s opening Premier League fixture

Arsenal v Leicester: The Foxes haven’t beaten Arsene Wenger’s side since November 1994

ARSENAL TEAM NEWS

Arsenal will be without their injured forward Alexis Sanchez.

The Chile international suffered an abdominal injury in training and could miss two weeks, while defender Laurent Koscielny is suspended for the visit of the Foxes.

Manager Arsene Wenger has several injury doubts as Mesut Ozil (ankle), Aaron Ramsey (muscular), Per Mertesacker (facial) and Jack Wilshere (leg) could all be absent while Gabriel (knee), Santi Cazorla and Francis Coquelin (both ankle) are definitely sidelined.

LEICESTER TEAM NEWS

An injury to summer signing Vicente Iborra will prevent him from making his Leicester debut tonight.

The Spanish midfielder, a £12.75million arrival from Sevilla, sustained a groin problem in training this week and the club are waiting for the results of scans to determine the length of his absence. His absence is a blow with Danny Drinkwater (thigh) also out.

Fellow new recruit Kelechi Iheanacho has recovered from the toe injury he suffered against Borussia Monchengladbach last week and is available to make his debut along with Harry Maguire, with Robert Huth recovering from ankle surgery.

PROVISIONAL SQUADS

Arsenal squad: Cech, Ospina, Gibbs, Mertesacker, Holding, Monreal, Mustafi, Bellerin, Nelson, Kolasinac, Ramsey, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Wilshere, Xhaka, Elneny, Ozil, Perez, Giroud, Walcott, Iwobi, Welbeck, Lacazette.

Leicester squad: Schmeichel, Jakupovic, Hamer, Simpson, Fuchs, Chilwell, Maguire, Morgan, Wasilewski, Benalouane, Ndidi, Amartey, Gray, Albrighton, Thomas, Mahrez, Musa, Vardy, Ulloa, Slimani, Okazaki, Iheanacho.

HISTORY

Last season: Arsenal 1 Leicester 0, Leicester 0 Arsenal 0

Last five league matches: Arsenal W W W W W; Leicester W W L L D