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Elneny & Ox to start in 4-2-3-1: My Arsenal line-up v Burnley

By on September 30, 2016

alex-oxlade-chamberlain arsenal

Arsenal will be looking to make it five Premier League wins on the spin when we take on Burnley at Turf Moor on Sunday. This is the team I’d like to see Arsene Wenger go with….

Goalkeeper: Cech

Ospina came in for the midweek Champions League win over Basel but Cech will come back in between the sticks on Sunday.

Defence: Bellerin, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal

This looks to be our first choice back four for this season and there is no reason to change things after they put in another excellent display on Wednesday night.

Therefore, I expected Koscielny and Mustafi to continue together in the middle of defence with Bellerin and Monreal once again filling the full-back positions. Gabriel is fit again while Gibbs is also pushing for game-time but Mertesacker remains out with a knee injury.

Midfield: Xhaka, Elneny

Coquelin’s injury is nowhere near as bad as first feared and the midfielder will have a late fitness test to see if he can feature at Turf Moor this weekend but I wouldn’t risk him. We have plenty of options in midfield so let’s give Francis time over the international break to fully recover.

Xhaka put in an excellent display against Basel so I’d certainly keep him in the team but I would like to see Cazorla given a rest. The Spaniard has started in our last five league games and both Champions League games so let’s not overplay him so early in the season.

Ramsey remains out with a hamstring injury [he’s due back after the international break] so I’d give Elneny a deserved start in midfield against Burnley.

Attack: Walcott, Ozil, The Ox

Walcott continued his fine form with another two goals in midweek so it’s impossible to leave him out right now and obviously Ozil will keep his place in the attack.

However, I would make one change as I’d like to see Iwobi given a breather because the youngster has played a lot of football lately. Oxlade-Chamberlain is hungry to impress so let’s give him a chance this weekend. It’s a squad game and we shouldn’t rely solely on the same eleven every week.

Striker: Sanchez

I’ve openly questioned the wisdom of playing Sanchez through the middle but he has grown in to the role and was outstanding against Chelsea and Basel so he’s certainly proving me wrong. With Giroud once again ruled out with this ‘toe injury’ Alexis will once again lead the line up front at Burnley.

This would be my line-up to face Burnley: