Arsenal vs Burnley
Date: 13/12/2020
K/O: 19:15
Venue: Emirates Stadium
Referee: Graham Scott
TV: Sky Sports
The Gunners are without a win in their last four games and host relegation bound Burnley on Sunday evening.
Arsenal are having a horrible start in the Premier League – we are now a third of the way through the season and the Gunners are struggling in 15th place, with a dismal 13 points.
Last week marked their sixth loss of the season as they lost 2-0 to Spurs in the North London derby. Goals from Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min finished the Gunners off as they dropped even further down the table.
Their opponents this weekend are also having rough time. Burnley are in the relegation zone and have only won one game this season. Last week they played well and achieved a hard-earnt point against Everton in a 1-1 draw at Turf Moor.
In previous seasons, Burnley have been known for keeping clean sheets and being strong in defence. But this season the Clarets have been exposed several times. Three clean sheets in 11 games isn’t ideal for Burnley, considering Nick Pope came second in the Golden Glove last year with 15 clean sheets at the end of the campaign – a drastic decline in defensive stability, when compared to last year.
Arsenal started the season in fine form beating Fulham, West Ham and Sheffield within their first four games. But since the early season flurry, their form has really dropped off, and they have one win in seven games.
The Gunner’s problem, in contrary to previous seasons, is scoring goals. Mikel Arteta’s side are the third lowest-scoring team in the league despite having proven attacking talent. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has scored 22 goals in each of the last two seasons, coming first and second in the race for the Golden Boot. This season, having started every game for Arsenal, the Gabonese striker has only two goals and is looking a shadow of his former self. Whether its a loss of confidence or fitness issues, the form of Aubameyang is a big problem for the Gunners.
Burnley are also having major problems in the final third. The Clarets are the joint lowest scoring team alongside Sheffield United on five goals, and when it comes down to scoring goals, strikers Jay Rodriguez and Chris Wood have not been clinical enough. Sean Dyche likes to target set pieces to score goals from and Arsenal have been poor at defending corners, so we could see a bombardment of long balls into the Arsenal box in hope that they find Burnley’s big men.
Team News
Arsenal
Mikel Arteta will rotate his squad on Sunday after the boss rested a number of players for the Europa League game against Dundalk, which they won 4-2.
Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette and Kieran Tierney were rested and should all return this weekend against Burnley. David Luiz is expected to start in defence after recovering from a head injury.
Arteta’s main decision is which formation to choose – a back-four or three. A back three gives Arsenal more stability in defence but given Burnley’s poor form he may choose to have four in defence and approach the game on the front foot.
Nicolas Pépé is suspended after his red card offence against Leeds.
Burnley
As for the visitors, Jack Cork is out of this match and four others are doubtful, including Robbie Brady and Dale Stephens.
Brady is the only fresh concern for Burnley and is still subject to a last-minute fitness test. If he is deemed fit enough, Dyche will stick with the same line-up as he used against Everton.
Predicted starting XIs
Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Leno; Bellerin, Luiz, Gabriel, Tierney; Elneny, Xhaka; Willian, Lacazette, Saka; Aubameyang.
Burnley (4-4-2): Pope; Lowton, Tarkowski, Mee, Taylor; Brady, Westwood, Brownhill, McNeil; Rodriguez, Wood
Predicted Score: Arsenal 2-1 Burnley
I think this will be a close game and not too many goals. Both teams are in desperate need of points at the bottom of the table so it could be a scrappy game. I think arsenal will have more of an attacking threat and I think they will get all three points. But Burnley will sit in and make things difficult for the Gunners.
