PREVIEW: ARSENAL V BURNLEY

Main Club Sponsor

TICKETS

SHOP

Clarets set for London showdown

2022-01-22T10:39:45.641Z

PREVIEW: ARSENAL V BURNLEY

Clarets set for London showdown

2022-01-22T10:39:45.641Z

Clarets set for London showdown

Burnley travel to the Emirates to take on Arsenal in a crucial Premier League fixture.

The Clarets have had six games postponed in the last eight weeks and have games in hand on their relegation rivals.

Manager Sean Dyche is pleased to be back in action and is aware Burnley have a backlog of fixtures.

“We have to try and catch the games up. We are fine with that. The games have got to be played and we hope the scheduling allows us an extra day in between games.”

He knows Arsenal will provide tough opposition.

“They’ve come a long way from a tough start. They’re in a better place than they were earlier this season and they’ve worked to get there. It's always a tough game going to Arsenal but we’ll take on the challenge.”

Manager's thoughts ahead of Leicester encounter at Turf Moor

**Team news **

Ashley Barnes remains absent after a long-term thigh injury.

Charlie Taylor is touch and go after a knock in a training game.

Erik Pieters, Johann Berg Gudmundsson and Dwight McNeil are all back in training.

Maxwel Cornet is away on African Cup of Nations duty with the Ivory Coast. They face Egypt in a last-16 tie on Wednesday.

Connor Roberts is on the road to recovery after an infection and may be involved.

For Arsenal, Thomas Partey was sent off in Thursday’s Carabao Cup semi-final second leg. He is suspended for the game at the Emirates.

Granit Xhaka was dismissed in the first leg and will serve the second game of his two-game ban.

Nicolas Pepe and Mohamed Elneny are away on international duty.

Goalkeeper Bernd Leno missed the Liverpool game with a back injury.

Former England defender Calum Chambers has been out with a neck injury but may return.

Form guide

After a 21-day league break Burnley are back in top-flight action this weekend and will be looking to end a run of three successive defeats in all competitions.

Burnley have drawn four and lost six of their ten away league games this season.

Arsenal lost their Carabao Cup semi-final to Liverpool at the Emirates on Thursday. Diogo Jota scored both goals as Jurgen Klopp’s team won 2-0.

The Gunners last Premier League game was a 2-1 home defeat to leaders Manchester City on New Years Day.

Opposition

Mikel Arteta was disappointed to be knocked out of the EFL Cup on Thursday but is looking for an immediate reaction.

“I will show them what they’ve done against Liverpool and demand more from ourselves as well because we’ve done a lot of good things, but it’s not enough to win a tie of two games against them. This is the level of excellence that we have to look for.”

Ahead of the weekend, Arsenal are two points away from a Champions League place. Arteta knows what is requires to catch the top four.

“We know the amount of matches that we’re going to have to win if we want to be there, but you can’t look too far ahead.”

The Gunners have had games cancelled themselves. They were due to play in the North London derby last weekend.

“There’s a lot that happened in recent weeks, and it’s been extremely hard to manage the squad and the team because we’ve lost a lot players.”

“We have to reunite, we have to win on Sunday and move from there because then we have a window, and hopefully we can get some players back.”

Match stats

Burnley’s win at Arsenal last season was the Clarets first ever win at the Emirates and their first away win against the London side since 1974.

Matej Vydra could make his 100th Premier League appearance on Sunday. He currently has 75 top-flight appearances for Burnley, 23 for West Brom and one for Watford.

Jay Rodriguez needs one goal for 100 English and Scottish league goals.

Norwegian international Martin Odegaard got the only goal when Arsenal won at Turf Moor in September.

Arsenal skipper Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has scored eight goals against Burnley. He put through his own goal for Burnley’s win in December 2020. He has returned from international duty but it is unclear whether he will be involved or not.

Referee

David Coote

VAR

Chris Kavanagh

Kick Off

Sunday 23rd January 2022, 2pm

Broadcast

There is live audio commentary on Clarets+ with Phil Bird from 1.45pm.