Arsenal’s visit to Burnley: Preview and Prediction

Mikel Arteta’s captain, Martin Ødegaard, has been a key playmaker. He creates an opportunity every 37 minutes in the Premier League throughout his career. Among Arsenal players with a minimum of 90 minutes played, only Mesut Özil (27) and Cesc Fàbregas (32) have a better minutes-per-chance created ratio. This is since Opta began collecting data in 2003-04.

Arsenal’s attacking lineup for the upcoming match against Burnley could receive a boost. There’s the potential return of Gabriel Jesus, Fábio Vieira, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Emile Smith Rowe, and Oleksandr Zinchenko. However, Jurriën Timber and Thomas Partey remain sidelined due to injuries.

Burnley

On the other hand, Burnley currently sits in 19th place in the league table. They face the risk of relegation to the Championship. Manager Vincent Kompany’s side is seven points adrift of safety. The 17th-placed Luton Town has a game in hand heading into Matchday 25.

In their recent outing against Liverpool, Burnley suffered a 3-1 defeat at Anfield. They conceded second-half goals from Luis Díaz and Darwin Núñez. This happened after Dara O’Shea had canceled out Diogo Jota’s opener on Matchday 24. This loss marked Burnley’s 50th conceded goal in their 24th Premier League game this season. It reaches a milestone not seen since the 1932-33 season in the second tier and the 1929-30 season in the top flight.

Despite O’Shea’s positive performance against Liverpool, Burnley faces concerns in attack. Only Lyle Foster (seven) and Zeki Amdouni (five) have been involved in more Premier League goals for Kompany’s side this season than O’Shea’s four (one goal, three assists).

On the injury front, Burnley might miss Foster due to a knock. Jordan Beyer, Luca Koleosho, and Nathan Redmond remain long-term absentees. However, there is a possibility of the reliable English defender Charlie Taylor returning from a shoulder injury if he passes a late fitness test. Vincent Kompany will be serving a touchline ban following his yellow card at Anfield last week.

Burnley vs Arsenal: Head-to-Head

In their 17 Premier League encounters, Burnley has only triumphed once over Arsenal (D4 L12). That triumph was in December 2020 at the Emirates Stadium.

In those 17 Premier League encounters versus Arsenal, the Clarets have only managed nine goals. They never scored more than once in a single game. It represents the most games one team has played the other in the competition without ever scoring more than one goal.

This season, Kompany’s team lost the rematch 3-1. Saliba and Zinchenko scored following Josh Brownhill’s cancelation of Trossard’s first goal at the Emirates in November.

In addition, the Gunners have not lost in their last ten away league games against Burnley (W5 D5). Eight of which have taken place in the Premier League. Only Chelsea (nine, also against Burnley) has played away from home against a team more frequently without ever losing in the competition.

Recent Form

Arsenal has maintained a perfect record in the 2024 Premier League. They won all four games against West Ham, Liverpool, Nottingham Forest, and Crystal Palace. They scored a total of 16 goals. This achievement marks only the second time in history that they have won their first four league games in a year. The previous instance occurred in 1935. However, they have never secured five consecutive wins in the opening five league games of a calendar year.

In 2024, the Gunners showcased their attacking prowess by scoring 5+ goals in two matches against Crystal Palace (5-0) and West Ham (6-0). Interestingly, this equals the number of times they achieved this feat in the entire Premier League season of 2023 (twice in 42 games). The last time they achieved such a scoring streak in three games in one year was in 2018, accomplishing it three times.

On the flip side, Burnley’s home form in the Premier League has been a struggle. They earned only five points in their 12 home matches this season (W1 D2 L9), the lowest among all teams. Notably, they have not won a Premier League game at home this season against a side starting the day in the top half of the table. In their nine games against teams in the top 10, they have drawn one and lost eight, conceding a total of 24 goals.