Arsenal head to Turf Moor to take on newly promoted Burnley in the Premier League. The Gunners put together a perfect October — 6 matches, 6 wins, 6 clean sheets. Five of those six matches came at the Emirates,
which undoubtedly helped buoy Mikel Arteta’s side. November has, historically, been much less kind to the Gunners — 2.1 points per match in October (and 2.1 under Mikel Arteta) versus 1.59 ppm in November (1.81 under Arteta). Arsenal start their “worst” month with three matches on the road before the international break.
Burnley have won two on the bounce to lift themselves out of the relegation places. Granted, those wins came over 15th place Leeds and 20th place Wolverhampton, but you play the schedule as it comes to you. One of the most important things for teams at the bottom to do is beat the teams around them in those proverbial “6-point matches” and the Clarets handled their business.
Not to jinx anything, but Burnley have never won a Premier League match against a side that started the day atop the table — 5 draws, 7 losses. You have to go back to 1975 to find the last time they won a top flight match against a table-topping side. A draw doesn’t do Arsenal much good (and a loss would be damaging). The Gunners need to keep stacking points and building / maintaining their lead. Again not to jinx anything, but they’ve won 23 of their last 24 against newly promoted sides. The only loss was two seasons ago, May 2023, away to Nottingham Forest.
We could be in for some attacking fireworks from the Gunners today. Burnley have conceded the third-most goals in the Premier League (17) and have only kept two clean sheets in their last 29 PL matches. Those two shutouts did come this season against Leeds and Sunderland. But note those are the two other promoted clubs. It would be nice for Arsenal to net a handful of open play goals and shut up some of the idiots braying about set pieces. Not that it really matters how the goals go in. All that matters is that you’re scoring in a sustainable way.
Perhaps Arsenal’s open play fortunes will turn around in the coming weeks as they get attacking talent back from the injured reserve (but that won’t help them today). Mikel Arteta suggested that some (or all) of Martin Ødegaard, Noni Madueke, and Kai Havertz could return to the lineup after the international break and in time for the North London Derby. Gabriel Jesus is a little further from making his return. He’s expected to join full training in December. Gabriel Martinelli misses out today with the groin injury suffered against Crystal Palace. William Saliba faces a late fitness test.
Scott Parker’s side will be without Swiss attacker Zeki Amdouni, who had ACL surgery over the summer and will be out until the spring. Also missing out is defender Conor Roberts, who had a setback with his knee injury and will miss a few months, and CB Jordan Beyer, whose hamstring issue will keep him out until January.
Lineups will be posted when available.
WHO: Arsenal at Burnley
WHAT: Premier League match day 10
WHEN: Saturday, November 1st, 8 am PT | 11 am ET | 3 pm GMT
WHERE: Turf Moor, Burnley
HOW TO WATCH: Broadcast live on the USA Network. Streaming on NBCSports.com
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