TEAM NEWS
Burnley are unlikely to start new midfield signing Josh Brownhill but he is included in their squad.
Ashley Barnes and Johann Berg Gudmundsson remain injured but Phil Bardsley returns after a back problem.
Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and David Luiz are both available following suspension.
The Gunners are assessing the fitness of Sead Kolasinac, Shkodran Mustafi and Reiss Nelson, as well as new defensive signings Pablo Mari and Cedric.
MOTD COMMENTATOR’S NOTES
@alistairmann01: It won’t be hard for Burnley to improve on their recent results against Arsenal, having done nothing but lose to them for the last 10 years! The theory of a bogey side has certainly been given credence by this fixture.
With the two sides on the same number of points and with the visitors having won just two league games on their travels this campaign, perhaps this may offer the Clarets their best opportunity to finally bring this incredibly bleak sequence to an end.
Back-to-back league wins have dramatically improved Burnley’s chances of ending the hoodoo, but with the visitors unbeaten in their last eight away games in all competitions it will be anything but a formality.
VIEW FROM THE DUGOUT
Burnley manager Sean Dyche: “Putting two wins back-to-back is hard enough in the Premier League. We have taken 12 points from the last eight games and we are onto something, but we have to put that in again.”
Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta: “[Turf Moor] is one of the most English grounds. What they do, they do it really well, they are specialists to do that. The type of game they want to play makes it really difficult for the opponent so we need to be ready for a battle, be clever, take the game where we want and go there with complete focus and energy and a very clear plan because if not, they are very hard to deal with.
“We are in the right path. The two weeks after Dubai [Arsenal’s winter training camp] will help accelerate that and I’m happy where I am.”
LAWRO’S PREDICTION
This is a big test for Mikel Arteta. There is a reason why Burnley have established themselves in the Premier League, and it is because their blueprint works.
Prediction: 2-1
Lawro’s full predictions v synth-pop singer Georgia
MATCH FACTS
Head-to-head
- Arsenal have won their last 10 league games against the Clarets – and 11 in all competitions, a run stretching back to March 2010.
- Burnley have not led for a single minute in the last 11 Premier League meetings.
- The Clarets are winless in 14 top-flight fixtures against Arsenal since a 1-0 victory at Highbury in September 1974 (D3, L11).
Burnley
- Burnley are looking to record three successive league wins for the first time April.
- The Clarets are without a league draw in 17 matches, winning seven and losing 10 games over that period.
- They have been beaten in six home fixtures, with only Southampton losing more.
- Burnley have lost all four home league fixtures so far against the established top six by an aggregate score of 3-13.
- Sean Dyche has lost all nine Premier League matches against Arsenal, a joint competition high for a manager against a particular opponent.
- Chris Wood has scored 10 goals in 22 league games this term, his equal-best Premier League tally.
- Wood, with four goals and one assist, has been directly involved in five of Burnley’s last seven league goals.
Arsenal
- Arsenal are unbeaten in six away league games, drawing each of the last four.
- They have not drawn five consecutive away league matches since August 1948.
- The Gunners have won just two of their 12 away league games (D7, L3).
- Arsenal have 12 points from their last 11 league fixtures, the same tally as Unai Emery managed over his final 11 matches in charge.
- Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has scored seven goals in four league appearances against Burnley, averaging a goal every 51 minutes.
- Aubameyang has scored nine of Arsenal’s 14 away league goals this season.
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