Arsenal welcome Burnley to Emirates Stadium in a huge clash at both ends of the Premier League table.
Victory will lift Arsenal up to fourth just for a couple of hours at minimum, whereas Sean Dyche’s Clarets can move off the foot of the table with a win.
Team News
Thomas Partey is suspended for Arsenal after being red carded in Thursday’s Carabao Cup exit to Liverpool, having rushed back following Ghana’s Africa Cup of Nations exit to participate in that match.
Calum Chambers (neck) and Cedric Soares (hip) are doubts but Mohamed Elneny, Nicholas Pepe (both international duty), Bernd Leno (back), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (illness) and Granit Xhaka (suspension) are still ruled out.
Burnley could welcome Nathan Collins, Erik Pieters, Johann Berg Gudmundsson, Dwight McNeil and Matej Vydra back from self-isolation after recent positive cases of Coronavirus.
Charlie Taylor (knock) and Connor Roberts (fitness) could feature but Maxwel Cornet (international duty) and Ashley Barnes (thigh) remain absent.
Stat Attack
- Arsenal have lost just one of their last five meetings against Burnley (W2, D2, L1).
- Burnley have won just one of their last five visits to Arsenal (W1, L4).
- Two of the last three meetings in this fixture have been settled by 1-0 results with both team winning one apiece at each other’s home ground.
- Coming into this matchweek, no Arsenal player has played more minutes in the Premier League this season than Ben White who has played 1,620 minutes in 18 league appearances.
- No English goalkeeper has made more high claims this season than Burnley’s Nick Pope, who has made 24 high claims in 16 league appearances.
Prediction
With no wins from four games in three different competitions across 2021 and three separate red card incidents, Arsenal simply need to sort out their defensive and disciplinary issues which is a particular concern with two central midfielders out.
Albert Sambi Lokonga meanwhile is just one booking away from suspension and Elneny is away in Africa, which surely is a huge tactical headache for Arteta in case Elneny returns injured or is unavailable immediately after the international break.
Burnley meanwhile are playing for the first time in two weeks but were outclassed by Huddersfield in their last outing in this season’s FA Cup, despite being less wasteful which is their only real positive but the sale of Chris Wood will be a huge absence up front.
On that note, this clash is tricky to predict because Arsenal have dipped and midfield tactical headaches will be a concern for Arteta, who needs to ensure that his players know to control their emotions and discipline.
Burnley meanwhile will likely have to learn to adapt to playing without Wood up front which will require players stepping up and being counted for, especially in their relegation fight following wins for Norwich and Newcastle this weekend.
This is therefore a must-win for both teams at opposite ends of the table but I am going for a home win if Arsenal can refocus, although a stubborn Burnley defence could cause frustration to seep in and potentially affect the outcome.
Prediction: Arsenal 2-0 Burnley
Result: Arsenal 0-0 Burnley
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