Morning all.
Tonights game is massive, probably one of the biggest of the domestic season so far. Sounds stupid I know as every game is a big one but the Premier League title is just six points away from being secured. It doesn’t matter what Man City do if Arsenal win tonight and again on Sunday.
Personally, I’d rather not see anyone but Cristhian Mosquera at right back. This isn’t the time to try something different in my opinion. The players have had a bit of a break so should be feeling fresh in the legs and focussed in the mind. Nerves will be jangling I’m sure but that’s a good thing. Nerves mean one cares about getting something right.
Burnley will be out to spoil things for us, of course they will but it’s up to Mikel Arteta and his players to stop them from succeeding.
Burnley have really struggled in the Premier League since achieving promotion from the Championship last summer and have been stuck in the relegation places for yonks. They’ve won just four fixtures all season. After Scott Parker was sacked just a few weeks ago, Mike Jackson stepped in for the final few matches. A 3-1 battering by Leeds on the road was followed by a 2-2 draw with Villa at Turf Moor. They’ve conceded 73 goals so far and scored 37.
Adrian Clarke, writing in the official matchday programme:
Jackson lined up in a pragmatic 5-4-1 at Leeds, which changed against Aston Villa, with Burnley causing plenty of problems in a more adventurous 4-2-3-1 shape. However a back five has been used in 19 of their 36 league games.
Burnley’s average possession is just 41.6%, the lowest in the division. Where possible, they like to move the ball out to quick wingers such as Jaidon Anthony [above] and Loum Tchaouana, and supporting full-backs in the shape of Kyle Walker or Brazilian Lucas Pires.
In a tough campaign, the Clarets’ finishing has been very good, and a shot conversion rate of 41.5% can only be bettered by three other clubs. Covering the fifth-most distance as a team, they are also incredibly industrious, especially inside the engine room where Florentino, Lesley Ugochukwu and Hannibal are always on the move.
However they have faced over 600 shots during 2025/26, and boast an expected goals against figure of 71.98 too – easily the highest tallies in the division. For a side with little possession, they will also be hugely disappointed to have conceded a joint-high seven goals from fast breaks, and considering they often have three centre-backs in place, it will also be a source of frustration to have let in 14 goals from headers.
A shot conversion rate at 41% is very good so we better make sure we don’t gift them many chances. We certainly didn’t in the away fixture as Burnley were restricted to just three goal scoring opportunities, none of which were on target. We however had twelve shots with eight on target, two of which ended up in the back of the net.
Mikel Arteta is three short of having a fully fit squad to select from, that is assuming Jurrien Timber hasn’t made a miraculous recovery since our last game. Having two out injured in the same position is a pain in the butt however, as suggested earlier, Mosquera is an excellent option to have. I think the team pretty much picks itself today although perhaps with a question mark over who starts in central midfield, Myles Lewis-Skelly or Martin Zubimendi.
Mikel Arteta:
The only thing that we have to do is earn the right to be better than the opposition. That’s going to lead to giving a big probability to win the game and then the rest might come. But we need to do that, and when you watched them play a few days ago against Aston Villa, you know that it’s going to be a tough game.
I think it’s going to be a tough game tonight too and it’s good that Burnley stood up to Villa, albeit the latter were far from being at their best, because it should have focused the minds within the camp. We have to earn the right to win and not expect Jackson’s team to simply turn up and go through the motions.
The world of football outside of Arsenal will want the title to go down to the wire I’m sure, hoping that City can snatch it from us on the final day of the season. We simply cannot let that happen. Please Arsenal, do not let it happen. Do not do anything rash, do not give the officials a big decision to make but most importantly, play to the strengths we all know these players possess.
Fans, be loud, be proud and help push this group of players to one more home win.
Catch up in the comments.
