Last week Arsenal claimed second place in the Premier League points table after a slip up from Manchester city, who succumbed to a 2-1 defeat against a high-flying Crystal Palace. The Gunners are a point ahead of United and 2 points in front of City and this weekend we have a great chance of consolidating that second place further with a win against relegation threatened Burnley.
With City travelling to United later on Sunday, if we can get all 3 points there is a huge chance that we might establish a good 3-4 points between us and the Manchester sides based on the result at the Old Trafford. However to do so, we need to get past Sean Dyche’s side who are still holding out to avoid a return to the Championship.
The Turf Moor have struggled to make a mark in the Premier League since getting promoted to the top division at the end of last season. They are currently in 19th place tied on points with 18th placed QPR and 4 points ahead of last placed Leicester.
They are still in with a chance of staying up, as they are only 3 points behind 15th placed Sunderland and they will also take heart from the fact that their home form has been pretty decent, after taking 4 points of Man City and Tottenham in their last 2 home games. However they have their task cut out if they are to get past a rampant Arsenal side who are unbeaten in their last 7 League games.
We have been absolutely brilliant since the start of February taking points not only when playing at our best, but also grinding out games when needed. It’s not that the team has changed since the start of the season, but the point to note for this tremendous turn around is that we are more solid defensively. We now have a defensive midfielder in the form of Coquelin, who treats defence as his first priority unlike others who played in that position in the past few years.
Others including Cazorla and Ramsey have also realised that they need to get back to defensive duties when Arsenal don’t posses the ball. On the injury front Wenger has confirmed that Arteta, Diaby, Wilshere and Debuchy are eligible to play, however Debuchy is the only player likely to feature. Burnley doesn’t posses the attack to trouble our defence, it is hard to imagine a result apart from an Arsenal win. Hopefully the players won’t be complacent, as that’s the only I see us dropping points.
A win will keep us in driving position for the second place and coming to the title race, Chelsea will also face a relegation threatened side in the form of QPR. We are currently 7 points behind our London rivals who also have a game in hand and if Arsenal are to have a chance catching Chelsea, the Stamford side should start dropping points and hopefully they do.
Can Arsenal beat Burnley and continue their title push?
