Arsenal vs Burnley: 5 key players in needed bounceback

Arsenal have now lost two in a row after previously going 22 unbeaten. Here are five key players to getting back on the right track against Burnley.

Arsenal‘s 22 game unbeaten stream is now bookended by two streaks of two consecutive losses, so for the sake of symmetry it will only do to go another 22 games unbeaten, starting, of course, with the Saturday fixture against Burnley.

Fresh off of being knocked out of the League Cup 2-0 to Spurs, which was fresh off losing the Southampton 3-2 at St. Mary’s, the Gunners will hope to rebound at the Emirates, facing a Burnley side that has been massively disappointing thus far into the year. They currently sit in the relegation zone, having surrendered the second-most goals in the Premier League.

With more and more players (ideally) returning from injury, it’s time to get back into the swing of things. Going up against Burnley, the threat of an aerial match is ripe, particularly on the defense end, and that puts more stress on an already-stressed Arsenal back line.

But up top, they will need to innovate to get more chances flowing, and that can start any number of ways, several of which will be covered in this very list, so let’s get to it. Here are the five key players to this match, starting with No. 5.

5. Alexandre Lacazette

Unai Emery is starting to get into the nasty habit of benching Alexandre Lacazette in favor of saving him for late introductions as a substitute, and while there is certainly a value in that, the value is not enough to justify continuing to not start him.

Lacazette makes the game more accessible, he gives a much more reliable target for long and short passes up top and his ball control is nowhere near replicated by his counterpart, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Which, speaking of, if we want the best out of Aubameyang, which I assume we do, then Lacazette also needs to start, and thus have an impact on the entire match, not just a fraction of it.

Plus, Eddie Nketiah can be trusted with making a late impact, so all the bases are covered.

Now then, let’s move on to No. 4.