Arsenal: Burnley can’t come soon enough after driveling affair in Germany

Arsenal were fresh off the back of a thrilling North London Derby when they fell flat with their rotated squad against FC Koln. So bring on Burnley.

Arsenal’s last three matches have been rather polarizing. We were frustrated to the max at the Etihad against Manchester City, anointed potential title challengers following a smashing affair in the North London Derby, and left flat-footed against Cologne in Germany.

Related Story: Arsenal's Predicted XI To Face Burnley

Through these three matches, very little has changed in the grand scheme. They still top their Europa League group and have clinched that spot. They still sit outside of the top four. Yet the splaying of emotions and ups and downs has left it hard to put our finger on what comes next, or what is even possible.

But one thing we know is coming is Burnley, and that’s the big, big match-up of the season. Burnley sit level on points with the Gunners, separated only by goal differential, and at Turf Moor, they are incredibly strong.

Their organized defense, their compact shape and their astute positioning makes them ridiculously hard to penetrate, as they rank third in the league in goals surrendered.

And yet, this game carries so much excitement for the Gunners. You just have to filter through all the background noise.

Against City, Arsene Wenger sabotaged his own chances with a depleted starting XI and even still, the officiating was skeptical and squashed any hopes the Gunners may have had at competing with the clear-cut title favorites.

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Against Tottenham, with our best XI, the Gunners have never looked better. Everything went right, everyone was perfect. Literally, I’m not even exaggerating. They were all superb. And I’d have thought that would have carried over into the second team against FC Koln, but it didn’t. They fell 1-0.

Which is a bummer, but honestly, what’s it really mean? Our best possible starting XI is going to be back out there against Burnley and, as such, I don’t see why we wouldn’t full confidence in this top-quality Premier League fixture, despite having a seriously confusing mixture of results lately.

We saw with our best possible XI that we can compete with anyone. And that includes Burnley. The fact that we don’t have the depth to veer away from that best possible XI is troubling, but going into the Burnley match, is, again, inconsequential, barring any injuries.

Next: 5 Things Learned Against FC Koln

So bring on Burnley. It’s time to solidify the strength of this first-choice XI once and for all.