Arsenal must take care of Burnley as Everton did

Having got off of the proverbial slide with last week’s victory against Norwich, Arsenal cannot tarry on this good fortune and must continue to push forward, this time at Turf Moor against Sean Dyche’s hard nosed Burnley outfit. This will be no easy task, as, despite that the Clarets do not have too many points yet, their performances have yielded less than they deserve.

A mixture of bad luck and poor offensive form has left them reeling, having lost to Everton 3-1 on Monday night 3-1 scoring first just after half-time. The Gunners will have to continue pressuring Nick Pope, the absolute giant of a goalkeeper that they keep guarding the goal, and will have to make sure that their midfield does not wake up against an Arsenal team that should be more than capable of handling Burnley this week.

Another win here for Arsenal would set them up to carry momentum into the third round match against AFC Wimbledon, with a North London Derby shortly thereafter when Tottenham comes to the Emirates. With Graham Potter and Brighton waiting at the AMEX the week after, almost guarding the second international break, victories against all of these clubs would have the Gunners in as positive a position come October as they were miserable after the seasons first run of matches.

While Arsenal won 1-0 against the Canaries last weekend they could’ve won the match 4-0, and anyone who watched the match can confirm this. When traveling to face Burnley, they would do well to remember as much, just as they would do well to capitalize this week where they have their chances.

Burnley vs Arsenal: Creativity will be the ticket for Saturday

Burnley has the capability, as was witnessed by the Toffees when Ben Mee opened the scoring last Monday, of getting a lead and then firmly and steadily parking the bus. For the Gunners, this would be the absolutely worst case scenario; Arsenal needs fluency and wants to be playing pretty football, nothing too muddled, where their talent cannot shine and take charge.

The Gunners must come out hot, either overloading Burnley’s midfield or going three at the back as Benitez did to counter their aerial threat. It remains to be seen whether Albert Sambi Lokonga or Ainsley Maitland-Niles is paired with Thomas Partey just in front of the backline, meanwhile Martin Odegaard must start bossing proceedings from that number ten position. Whoever else can be found, whether it’s Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith Rowe, Gabriel Martinelli, Nicolas Pepe, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang or Alexandre Lacazette, goals will have to be found. Fluency must be discovered.

Arsenal did themselves few favors during the first stretch of matches, scoring no points across three defeats. They will have to begin making that goal differential up, and it is against the poor teams in the Premier League where this needs to be amended.

Manchester City did it to Arsenal, and so Arsenal must, in turn, do it to a club like Burnley. Should Arsenal fail to do so then it will be a missed opportunity, similar to if they cannot win on Saturday. Good teams do not play down to their competition, but hold their level of play at a standard of which they have created and maintained for themselves, and not anyone else.

The Mikel Arteta Revolution, as I called it long ago, will show its teeth this week, one way or another. Either it is a pathetic showing coming off of a promising clean sheet victory with young Aaron Ramsdale in net, or confidence is built upon and the Gunners really demonstrate that they are in the business of clawing themselves back into contention for a top position and/or domestic cup silverware.

I am always optimistic, and so will choose to believe that the club will, once again, show something positive on Saturday; enjoy it yourselves and come on you Gunners!