It feels as if every game is a ‘must win’ in the Premier League these days, but with Arsenal’s title rivals keeping their foot on the gas, three points are needed on Sunday.
To do that Arsene Wenger is going to need as many people fighting for the chance to play as possible, and this weekend’s squad looks in tip-top shape.
The Gunners welcome back a trio of players after they recovered from minor injuries in the last few weeks, whilst the news on Olivier Giroud’s injury was also good.
Wenger now has the likes of Welbeck, Lucas, Iwobi, Ramsey and soon to be Walcott challenging for a place on the wings, so expect a strong bench for the hosts.
Burnley meanwhile will be happy to pick up anything from this game, their away form has been horrid this season having picked up just one point on the road.
Team News
Arsenal
Francis Coquelin, Kieran Gibbs and Hector Bellerin will all return to the squad after missing a couple of weeks of action, each of them will be pushing for a starting place.
Theo Walcott is perhaps just one more week away from shaking off a calf problem, he returned to training in mid-week and will want to get his place back in the side sharpish.
Per Mertesacker will continue his recovery over the next two weeks before he can celebrate signing a contract extension properly, he’s joined by Santi Cazorla as a long-term injured man.
Mohamed Elneny will be out until at least the end of the month as he continues to progress in the Africa Cup of Nations, meaning Ramsey and Xhaka are likely to continue their run of form.
Arsenal Absentees:Â P. Mertesacker, S. Cazorla, C. Akpom, M. Debuchy, M. Elneny, T. Walcott
Predicted Line-Up (4-2-3-1):Â Cech, Bellerin, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal, Ramsey, Xhaka, Iwobi, Ozil, Alexis, Giroud
Burnley
When it comes to lack of points away from home, Sean Dyche doesn’t have many pages filled in the excuses book because his squad have managed to stay fairly injury free.
However, following the FA Cup win over Sunderland on January 7th, things have got a little bit tight in midfield for Dyche and he’ll be without Scott Arfield and Berg Gudmundsson.
He’s always been a manager who will get what he can from a game, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see him drop one of Andre Gray or Ashley Barnes up front.
There will be options on the bench but this defence will be stretched throughout the 90 minutes, and one mistake could result in this being another ‘Swansea’ scoreline.
Burnley Absentees: S. Arfield, Gudmundsson, K. Long, D. Marney
Predicted Line-Up (4-4-2): Heaton, Lowton, Keane, Mee, Ward, Boyd, Marney, Hendrick, Defour, Barnes, Gray