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Preview: Arsenal v Burnley, team news, Giroud out + prediction

By on January 21, 2017

alexis sanchez arsenal

Arsenal have an excellent opportunity to put some pressure on the top three when we take on Burnley at the Emirates on Sunday afternoon.

It’s been an excellent day for Arsenal so far as Liverpool crashed to a 3-2 defeat at home to Swansea while Man Utd have just been held to a 1-1 draw at Stoke.

With Man City hosting Tottenham this evening at least another one of our nearest rivals will be dropping points so we simply have to take advantage by beating Burnley at home tomorrow.

We got our league campaign back on track with a resounding 4-0 win at Swansea City last weekend and we can climb above Liverpool into the top three with a win on Sunday, while if Spurs fail to win at City then we’ll go second.

The boys can’t take three points for granted as Burnley are enjoying a solid season with Sean Dyche’s men sitting twelfth, however, their away form is horrendous so we should be confident of the win tomorrow.

Team News

Bellerin is set to return to the fold after recovering from an ankle injury that’s kept him out for the last two games so Gabriel will make way at right-back.

Gibbs is also back in contention after overcoming a knee complaint while Coquelin has made a swift recovery from a hamstring injury and should be back in the squad.

Walcott is back in full training [photos here] but Wenger says the attacker is still not fit enough to be selected so he remains out along with Mertesacker and Cazorla.

Giroud has been passed fit despite limping out of the win at Swansea with an ankle injury while Elneny is away at the African Cup of Nations.

As for Burnley, Scott Arfield will once again miss out with a knee injury but James Tarkowski could be pushing for a start after impressing in midweek.

Preferred line-up

The back five picks itself but I pray Wenger resists the temptation to recall Coquelin. The Frenchman has started more games than any other midfielder this season so he’s clearly a favourite of Arsene’s but I think the Ramsey/Xhaka partnership has the potential to grow into something special.

Giroud has been among the goals lately but let’s not forget we look much better overall with Sanchez through the middle. Plus, Giroud is always at his best when he’s 100% fresh so let’s give him a breather and use him as an impact sub.

That allows Iwobi to start from the left and Oxlade-Chamberlain to come in to the attack on the right with Ozil obviously in the No.10. This would be my team:

Prediction

Burnley are statistically the worst away side in the division having taken just 1 point from their nine games away from Turf Moor so this should be a home banker. We looked like we were getting back to something like our best last week and if we play with a high tempo and don’t make any silly mistakes at the back, then this should be a routine home win. Don’t mess this up Arsenal! Arsenal 3-0 Burnley