Arsenal News Arsenal opinion

Confirmed: Arsenal’s starting line-up announced for crunch clash with Burnley

The teams are out for today’s clash between Arsenal and Burnley at Turf Moor.

The Gunners will be looking to build on their victory last week when they beat Norwich City at the Emirates Stadium, while the home side will be hoping that they can get their season underway with their first league win of the campaign.

The two sides have drawn two of their last three outings, with Burnley snatching a 1-0 win in the other, and neither team has the best form coming into today’s encounter.

Both sides have little team selection issues, while Granit Xhaka’s absence through suspension may well have mixed reactions from sections of fans, while the only question marks were whether Alexandra Lacazette, Thomas Partey or Emile Smith Rowe would get the nod to start this weekend.

Do you agree with Mikel’s starting line-up? Who will you be looking at on the bench to make an impact if called upon?

Patrick

Posted by

Tags Burnley Burnley v Arsenal

202 Comments

    1. I agree but only Martin or Smith should be played as CAM, specially in a physical game as Burnley.

      Now we’ll lose middle battle & balance.

      AMN was perfect with Partey as he can defend and B2B.

      Arteta just can’t get it right!

    2. Apart from one moment of magic we have been utterly pathetic. Everyone under Arteta from experience to young seem to regress rather then progress. If this is what pro Arteta fans think will make us into power house then all I can do is laugh on their thinking like other fans are laughing on us for floating this stupid argument.

  4. I had a feeling ESR and Odegaard would start together in the middle. Hopefully they can rotate to give Partey protection. Risky but love it!

  5. 4-3-3.
    Always the formation he’s always said he wants to play with.
    Now that he has his players for that formation, I’m willing to see what it will offer.
    Good lineup

      1. All journalists and reporters from the stadium said we’re starting with 4-3-3 bro, I don’t see the 4-1-4-1 shape

  6. I think Arteta isn’t worried about Burnley’s midfield and is more concerned about Dyche’s park-the-bus tactic, hence he just plays with one DM

    In my opinion, that setup will be more effective if Lacazette plays. But Arteta surely knows better

    1. Gai
      The line up is OK👌with attacking benefits. But it is a risky one considering Thomas Pathey just returning from injury. I hope Burnly physicality won’t be too much for Pathey as the only DM. But if the team works for each other then, there won’t be any problem. With this setup I think Arteta feels his defense his capable. I am optimistic Arsenal lineup will grind out a win today the players on the list are capable.

      1. Dyche would likely try to bypass our midfield, by distributing long balls to Chris Wood and Ashley Barnes

        This is why I wanted Tavares to deal with the aerial duels on the left side, instead of Tierney. But Smith-Rowe will surely work his socks off to score

  7. Well, if that line-up cannot beat Burnley we are DD’d. Possibly the best line up we can put out. Tonight will be either Arteta’s first of the new era or last of the old. If we lose then we all know what will happen. I do expect that line up to win but the unexpected is always waiting.

  11. No sambi? Sambi out Emile in. That clearly a tactical decision, let’s see if the manager was right. I would have taken Pepe out to bring Emile in. I hope Pepe delivers today his play has been too inconsistent. Today will show you whether we should continue with him or not!

  16. Nobody seems to be seeing what am seeing. To me, Arteta has set Arsenal to loose today with this lineup. Hope it works for him honestly because playing Partey as the only combative mildfielder in this game just as he did with Zhaka against Man City, completely shows he is a LEARNER.

    1. He expects Burnley to sit deep, that’s first and foremost and secondly Burnley is not City. Finally Partey is not Xhaka. He wants to attack Burnley and I like the approach. I hope we get to win, so you wont get the chance to say “I told you so” lol

  18. I like the line up,but the midfield too light because of Burnley rugby tactics, how I wish Sambi started the match

        1. My concern as well PJ-SA, is the fitness of Thomas Partey. I just hope he is not been brought back too early. This is an attacking line up set up for Saka, ESR and Odegaard to break down Burnley, if the set up deep defensively. However Sean Dyches is a smart manager, who doesn’t get enough credit for what he has achieved at Burney. He might surprise by attacking Arsenal at home.

    2. Agree…start with Sambi in place of Ode then bring Ode on once they tire.

      I still expect a win though along with the MA fans crawling out the woodwork again after playing 2 of the 4/5 worst teams in the EPL.

      COYG

  19. I don’t think they are gonna walk over our midfield. It’s all about being intelligent and taking your chances. Burnley players are well built but I don’t think we need 11 bulls to represent us.

    City hardly play with 2 DM’s but they will against Burnley any day.

  21. I’d much rather have Sambi and Partey together with Ode on the bench to start….need toughness today at least to start with.

    Laca for Auba too

    Hoping ESR or Ode actually play in the hole behind the striker. MA’s tactics always leave that position completely vacant which is why we can never transition from defence to attack effectively. Eg ESR spends most of his game near either wing, rarely in the hole.

  22. Are we physical enough in the middle of the pack? If we don win this game, it would mean Arteta does not know how to gamble with his selections given the opponents we are facing. My preferred line up with some physical presence. is:

    4-2-1-3 Formation
    ———————-Ramsdale——————–
    Tomiyasu—White——Gabriel——Tavares
    ————-Lokonga——-Partey———–
    ——————–Lacazette——————
    Martinelli——Aubamayang——-Nketiah.

  23. This is the team that mikel arteta wanted so badly. If arsenal wins tonight, then we can say arteta is heading towards right direction. If arsenal lose tonight, then the board should start new manager hunting

    1. Beating Spurs next will mean we heading in the right direction.

      As tough as Burnley is, we should always expect to be beating these kind of teams if we want to be top 4.

      1. Near Totnes
        I remember you have family near St Austell. We were in Cornwall in the early summer
        You need to get over from the other Newcastle and give the SW a try!

  26. Hope Partey doesn’t get injured again, seems like a bit of a risk leaving him man alone to do the defensive work in the midfield against a physical team straight after returning from a injury.

  28. If Leno did what Ramsdale just did he’d be slaughtered on here.

    Also we are losing almost every header in our own box. 50mil White completely missing a basic header too.

      1. Can you read? I didn’t say for the game, I said in our own box and also said almost. Come now Angus, back to school.

        1. Fair enough but there have been how many headers in the box? One both missed. One that went over the bar under good defensive pressure by Pepe I think of all people from a corner. Even if I’ve missed 2 there it’s not a thing is it.

    2. Yeah that was scary what he did! Hope he only takes calculated risks and does not shock us like that… about Leno doing the same I would say thats the new boy effect. Happened with Tierney earlier so …

        1. I am an Arsenal supporter that finds sweeping insults a blight on the English language.
          If he is willing to insult people like that then he has to be man enough to take it himself.
          Capiche?

        2. @Kedar, don’t worry about him. He is just trying to balance pro vs against figures. If everyone here is against then there won’t be any discussions that is not good for business 🤣😂🤣.

      2. Admin you really shouldn’t be trying to impose your ideals on fans who don’t share your specific opinions, you come across like a bit of a young Stalin sometimes.

        If you need advice on how to be neutral as an admin should be, I’ll gladly pass on the number of our neighbourhood watch Whatsapp group’s admin. Top bloke, will def help you out.

      4. Pat, keep living in dream land. Are you blind not to see the gap which keeps increasing between us and the other top teams. Also are you blind to results or just arrogant? It’s because of fans like you we have gone on to have such low standards and expectations. Arsenal will never become a big club again untill we can get rid of this loosers mentality from club including fans.

    2. Arteta is lucky
      He was very average as player but still played many many years in one of the elite football league
      And Mediocre as Manager and still managing football club who can spend 150 Millions in single transfer window

  32. Whether we win, draw or lose one thing is very clear…

    Our players still look completely clueless as to what they are supposed to be doing under MA’s tactics.

    I’ll be thrilled if we win but we look so lost. We have ZERO identity and are actually making Burnley look good.

    1. Omg give it a rest with your agenda during games pleas. 0-0 Liverpool v Palace, 0-0 City v Southampton. As to Burnley looking good 3 shot vs 3, 0 on target vs 0 on target not exactly good looking.

      2. Settle down Angus. My comment still stands. And give Burnely some credit, they have looked quite good in spells in the game….or are you one of those people that can’t give opposition a bit of credit?

        1. Burnley are playing exactly as expected as to performance zero clear cut chances and a comfortable single save for Ramsdale. I give plenty credit, it’s why I still harbour hopes of actual prizes in the sky fantasy league (i’m doing rather well.) Not doing too shabby in our own prediction league here either 4th currently.

          1. Are you watching the game??? They’ve had quite a few decent chances already and are looking better than they usually do.

            FYI they’ve had more shots and more shots on target than we have….get the blinkers off mate

          2. Fyi didn’t see this at the time but as you Arteta out lot routinely do you made up your response. They did not have either more shots or more shots or target at half-time.

  36. Get in! Told you Ode would be a fan fav (too early i know) 🙂 Pure class. Commentary lying again though about not being in behind Odegaard released Tierney in behind early in the game and it was good intervention by Pope that stopped Auba having a tap in. Biased commentary, standard for Arsenal.

  37. That’s definitely a nice group of talented young men. Please unshackle them Arteta and let them play ball. Just good old uncomplicated football.

      2. Yes defending has been good tonight! Pepe and Auba pressing well as well. Only complain is they are complicating play too much… also Pepe might play better on the left or slightly central, he is being tag-teamed..

        2. He always will get tag-teamed with his profile. He has to learn to make that work for the team and evade it where possible, think he has made great progress in this regard last half a season or so.

          1. Yes, just feel that Saka might work better in the right. The guy has not been influential at left. Or we could dynamically switch wings every now and then. It has worked before with Saka dazzling at RW and Pepe combining well with KT on the left. Anyways good play overall, just becoming clueless in some final ball situations. I hope MA would teach our players atleast some of the brilliant onetouch rondos he played with teammates on the pitch especially against Opposition like this….

          2. Got to bear in mind with Saka that he is still insanely young. More so he played more minutes than anyone else for us last year, then was heavily involved with England and that was all on the backdrop of a congested pandemic fixture schedule. A little drop off is expected either side he plays on. All that said he probably is better from the right but it’s best for us to have him on the left right now and given his age if he can learn to play there to a similar level too that is massive for us.

  41. Substitute saka and bring on lokonga , saka shit player on the pitch, no improvement, and he bacame a lazy player, no attacking no defending waste of space,

      1. But his recent performance are not up to the level as expected he misses so many chances and he is been simply bullied by opposition players,

      1. Look how poor he is infront of goal, bad first touches inside the box, how many simple chance he spoiled this season and also in this game you can have sympathy for him but for club it will cost the points,

  42. I would take off Pepe, move Saka to RW and bring in Lacazette, our decision-making in the final third is amateurish, we need to TAKE OUR CHANCES NOW!

    1. I’d just swap our wings…Pepe is much better on the LW.

      Also with Tierney we already get good service from the left.

      1. Last time both Saka and Tierney were on the left Reece James had a field day….. and I believe a good number of posters on here claim Pepe is better on the right, because he can cut in and shoot with his left foot. I agree Saka hasn’t been effective in this game so far though.

  44. Can we please play the ball infront of Pepe, everyone is passing behind the poor bloke. Pepe’s putting in some really good balls into the box.

    Partey, Tomi and Gabriel having a great game.

    Not very convinced by Rolls Royce so far.

    2. A little lax today I guess, he also could not clear the danger involving Barnes… but he was good against Norwich so I guess baby steps lol. The game might need Marty at some point to outrun defenders.

  45. Having seen the Norwich match last week I thought we looked a little more free flowing than our worst backwards and sideways style. These games often come alive in the second half so let’s hope we can concentrate defensively and get the forwards in on goal. Aubameyang not at his sharpest but who knows how long malaria affects people.

  46. The Gunners didn’t have the guts to make forward passes in the tight spaces, hence the excessive backpasses again. I’m surprised we still haven’t improved our confidence after the Norwich game and one week break

    We were lucky Burnley were awful and Odegaard scored, otherwise a better opposition would likely score first against us. If Arteta still can’t make the players braver in the field after the upcoming League Cup game, he might have a self-belief issue himself after the series of defeats

    No guts means no catching up with the top six

    1. Easy for u to say! Do you think Burnley are pushovers especially at Turf Moor?

      Relax Gai! Let’s wait for the second half

      1. I feel Arteta is too afraid of Burnley’s counter-attacks. If I were him, I’d replace Smith-Rowe with Maitland-Niles in the second half

    2. I agree GAI. Burnley have played well in patches and so have we but we still don’t look confident in whatever our game plan is.

      We’ve given Burnely quite a few decent chances in the game already. Happy for MO with a great free kick but we’ve offered little else.

    1. Personally I’d like to see a distinctive style of play with clear, executable tactics.

      Winning is great but if it’s not done in a way that’s repeatable and something we can build on game to game then it’s just a flash in the pan.

      Glad we are winning but we are thinking long term and making genuine progress.

      1. There is a clear style, we’re not executing properly but it is there. Tomi failing to release Pepe just now being an example, it will come.

    2. Welcome to the new board…

      Just B%$ch and MOAN.com

      A sad shadow of what was once a really
      informative and entertaining forum.

  49. It’s a bit frantic for Saka. Probably good to bring on Lokonga later on. Laca’s strength would give the Burnley defence problems. Aubameyang not doing a lot. All in all, defence doing well.

  51. We need the striker to get involved as well… He’s too absent here and looks exhausted whenever the ball gets to him

    1. That sort of game for him (way Burnley defend) but had Pope not blocked Tierney’s cross he’d be on the scoresheet and no-one would comment. Would like to see Martinelli-Saka sub personally but seems it might be Smith-Rowe (relatively anonymous to be fair) – Lokonga. Ode will push up.

      As it opens up Auba will get chances.

      1. Lol so if a Burnley player hadn’t done their job, we would have scored? Bit obvious hey

        If Ramsdale didn’t stop a shot on target, it would have been a goal….no sh!t

  58. Saka sadly is not half the player he was last season … needs to understand he’s not an automatic choice playing like this .. aubemayang definitely sold in January window just not interested .. and anyone who wants Pepe can take him … rest look decent but no outlets ahead of them … arteta needs a change up front .. they r back in this game

    1. You’re right saka is been poor this, no attacking threat , no determination to improve his game especially his finishing quality, he think he is an automatic starter even with these shit performance, he’ll soon be benched ,, he can’t rely on that support for penalty incident on euro cup, he has to improve his game

  59. Why Arteta keeps giving instructions on touchline throughout the match??
    I don’t wonder why he takes training sessions then? And what he does there

    1. He’s leaving on a free end of year. He has to be nailed on starter in training/tactics to start now, how it should be. Without the pandemic we likely would of sold him the summer before this to protect value. Good player but not special and not going to be here long-term, cold reality.

    1. Put Taylor in the position with the Burnley crowd on his back where he had to call it. Same nonsense as ever with Arsenal. Since Xhaka’s red card we’ve had Pogba straight over the ball into just below the knee, no foul, score a goal after no punishment, Tarkowski same leap as Xhaka but miss the ball yellow (playing today as a result), think it was Klich yesterday studs up miss the ball, narrowly miss the face and hit the shoulder, no punishment VAR. None of these were viewed as reckless yet the only one to win the ball was Xhaka. Draw your own conclusion.

      1. We’re talking less than two full game weekends when pointing out the 4 challenges that escaped punishment. C’mon. Pogba was Sunday after most games, Klich was Friday before most games. We only had 1 full game week in between all those.

  76. How long can you persist will a striker that isn’t scoring? Pepe is not good enough either! We have to move on from him or he will cost us!

  79. Hanging on … no confidence in football we play … manager packing the defence hoping they won’t score … what the hell happened to this club .. may as well have dyche as manager

    1. Thank you for not being short sighted like some fans that only care that we are winning so the facts dont matter.

  87. Saka is a big liability on the pitch , by the look of his body language he thinks he became a world class player , poor finishing ,no heart to improve his game, poor passing poor defending , if he is continue like he’s gonna cost us the goals

    1. He has been acting like that since last season lol. 7 goals and 7 assist in all competitions is not impressive at all for a winger tbh

      1. Happy we won but no intensity, movement, creativity. Ben White was not focused and needs to sharpen up.

      2. Yes , but some fans here think he is already a world class player tbh i don’t think so, if you have quality you have to improve that quality, and improve your game day by day i dont see any improvement in his game, some people say he’s young so what atleast show some energy and passion to improve the game otherwise he’ll be benched or forgotten, for how many game he can carry like this

    1. Gabi and Tomi real ballers today. Seems like Rolls Royce needs a cold start lol..and maybe play Tavares some game instead of KT.

  91. would not have 3 points right now if leno was the keeper. A composed GK makes a MASSIVE difference. was not a fan of the money spent of ramsdale originally, but if he keeps up these kind of performances it may be worth it.

    1. A lot of people eating their word right now vis a vis Ramsdale. It was an unnecessary expense for a player who would not improve us according to some.

  92. Back to back wins but performance wise not very encouraging,this was pretty much MA’s team so what are the excuses this time?as some have said before on here,it could be a very long season.

  93. what exactly are we doing on the training ground??? that was the most static 4-3-3 I’ve witnessed in some time, our passing in the final third was absolutely atrocious, White looks to be a subpar defender and this is the most scared football I’ve witnessed in my lifetime as a fan of this club, which is saying quite a lot considering some of those late season quests for the Wenger Cup matches we endured

    1. Were you not someone who moaned about our summer business? How have Ramsdale, Tomiyasu and White looked in our two clean sheets? What about Ode? Think he scored today.

      1. Angus, you’re such a short-sighted wannabe superfan…perspective certainly isn’t your strong suit…btw White has been average at best, Tomi’s been OK, but certainly isn’t a revelation as of yet and Ramsdale has been considerably better than Leno when it comes to ball distribution and his box “presence”, but that was a pretty low bar…do you really think what we’ve seen so far this season represents an improvement from last season??? 2 goals in 5 matches, -7 goal differential, piss-poor tactics, scared football and the same old injury concerns…you can put a piece of shite in a fancy box, but it’s still a piece of shite

        1. hahahaha put up or shut up mate. I’m up in the betting markets. I’m in the actual running for the sky fantasy team. I’m top 4 in the predicition every result right this weekend except City v Southampton. Pray tell how delusional I am.

          2. you just don’t get it…wish I could say I’m the least bit surprised…I guess we con only hope that the gerbil chasing the cracker will grow tired at some point and simply doze off

  95. I’ll take it. Burnley away is not easy. I hope Partey coming off early was a condition issue. He’s literally the one guy we cannot afford to lose. Great midfielder. Gabriel MOTM for me.

    Another 3 points. Another clean sheet. Well done, Boys!

Comments are closed

Top Blog Sponsors