With seven consecutive league wins at their back and an F.A. Cup semi-final at Wembley on the horizon, there is something of a feel good factor at Arsenal at the moment. They almost have a fully fit squad to boot, what sorcery is this?!
How the manager integrates returning players without disrupting the team’s momentum will be intriguing, but it certainly fits snugly in the ‘nice problem to have’ column.
That said, complacency could be Arsenal’s silent enemy and Wenger warned his charges that they would need to match Burnley physically on Saturday to continue their rich vein of form.
Burnley have taken points off of Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea at different stages this season, so they are certainly not to be taken lightly. They are probably the hardest working team in the league and they don’t tend to concede many goals at Turf Moor.
If the Gunners drop their level even 1%, they will not win the game, you feel. With the Manchester clubs playing one another this weekend, Arsenal have a good chance to put distance between one or both of those teams this weekend.
Vital Quotes:
Gunners boss Arsene Wenger has urged his team to prepare themselves for a physical battle in Lancashire at tea time on Saturday. ‘You have to get to get to their level of physical performance.
‘”And the rest, you have to produce the quality of performance that is expected from us on a technical level.
“You have first to fight with them physically, that is for sure. Burnley is a tough test for everybody. You shouldn`t look at the table because they started slowly but recently they played very well against all the big teams in the league.
“They are quite efficient at home because they made 18 points out of 26 at home.Therefore we have to make sure we produce the expected performance on the commitment, on the focus and on the quality of our game.”
Burnley manager Sean Dyche says his team are relishing the opportunity to pit their wits against in form Arsenal, ”I think it’s a different kind of challenge. A lot has been made of the challenge we’ve just had, coming up with Arsenal as people on the outside of us have been making clear. It’s a really tough run.
‘Some would say we weren’t going to get a point but we’ve got five going into the Arsenal game, starting back with the Manchester United game.
‘We’ve played the ‘super-powers’ as I call them, delivered some good performances and come out with some points. Now it’s a different challenge – it’s teams around us and mid-table sides – but the same rules apply.
‘They’re all good sides in the Premier League. We know how hard it is to get here and we know how hard the challenge is to be in it. We want to be in it, we’re striving for that and working very hard.”
Burnley Team News:
Burnley midfielder Matt Taylor could make his return from a seven-and-a-half month Achilles injury lay-off against Arsenal on Saturday.
Midfielder Dean Marney and defender Kevin Long (both cruciate ligament) remain on the long-term absentee list.
However, winger Ross Wallace (knee) and right-back Steven Reid (calf) could return.
Burnley (from): Heaton, Trippier, Duff, Shackell, Mee, Wallace, Vokes, Ings, Kightly, Jones, Taylor, Sordell, Jutkiewicz, Reid, Boyd, Gilks, Ward, Keane, Barnes, Arfield.
Player to watch: Danny Ings
Ings has been interesting many clubs with his contract beginning to run down. Whether or not the Clarets survive, Danny Ings will probably be a Premier League player next season.
Burnley are tight at the back, but struggle for goals. They rely quite heavily on Danny Ings in this respect and they will look to him once again on Saturday.
Arsenal Team News:
Arsenal welcome Mathieu Debuchy, Mikel Arteta, Jack Wilshere and Abou Diaby back into contention. Meanwhile, Wojciech Szczesny (rib) and Laurent Koscielny (achilles) are expected to pass fitness tests.
Aaron Ramsey has been declared fit after hobbling off against Liverpool last weekend. Alex Oxlade Chamberlain will be given a further week to recover from a hamstring injury.
Arsenal (from); Szczesny, Debuchy, Gibbs, Mertesacker, Gabriel, Koscielny, Rosicky, Arteta, Wilshere, Özil, Giroud, Ospina, Walcott, Ramsey, Alexis, Monreal, S.Cazorla, Flamini, Chambers, Welbeck, Diaby, Coquelin, Bellerin.
Player to watch: Olivier Giroud
Quite simply one of Europe’s in form strikers at present, Giroud’s improvement has been notable this season and with goals in each of his last 6 Premier League games, the Frenchman will look to continue his personal duel with Alexis Sanchez to finish as Arsenal’s top scorer.
Match Facts & Stats
Arsene Wenger has taken his team to Turf Moor three times before, in each domestic competition. His has won once, lost once and drawn once.
Arsenal defeated Burnley 3-0 at the Emirates Stadium in November, a game which featured Calum Chambers’ first and to date only goal for Arsenal.
Abou Diaby, Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey and Theo Walcott are the only Arsenal players from the squad the last time this fixture was played, in December 2009. None of Burnley’s 18 from that game are still at the club.
Mike Dean was the referee the last time this fixture was played, as he will be on this occasion.
The sides have met 46 times at Turf Moor with Burnley winning 22, Arsenal winning 11. There have been 13 draws. Burnley have 73 goals to Arsenal’s 50 in this time.
Ref Watch:
The referee will be Mike Dean.
Match Prediction:
I think this is going to be a very tough game but I fancy Arsenal to nick it 1-0 thanks to Alexis.
Next Fixtures:
Arsenal play Reading in the F.A. Cup semi-final at Wembley at 5.20pm next Saturday. Burnley have Everton away next Saturday at 3pm.