Arsenal will take on Burnley at home in the Premier League on Saturday and will hope to bounce back after losing their last two games in all competitions.
Unai Emery’s side were on a 22-game unbeaten run before their shock defeat against Southampton last weekend and they were then beaten by arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the EFL Cup.
The Gunners have looked defensively shaky all season and recent injuries coupled with suspensions have only made matters worse as the manager has had to field a makeshift defence.
Burnley have struggled of late and it’s perhaps the ideal game for Arsenal to bounce back ahead of what is a crucial time for every Premier League side as the fixtures will come thick and fast.
Arsenal Team News
The Gunners will be without Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Shkodran Mustafi, and Rob Holding, so Emery will have to make a decision of who to play alongside Sokratis at the back.
Laurent Koscielny is available, but Arsenal need to tread carefully with the Frenchman as he has just returned to action and it would be unwise to play him in too many games too soon.
Sead Kolasinac is also in line to make a return.
Predicted Arsenal Lineup
Defence
Though it’s a gamble playing Koscielny, it’s likely that he’ll start considering Burnley have two old school forwards that the likes of Nacho Monreal and Granit Xhaka are not suited to handle.
Koscielny should partner Sokratis at the back while the duo of Kolasinac and Stephan Lichsteiner will start as the two full-backs.
Bernd Leno should keep his place in goal.
Midfield
Xhaka has looked good in midfield, arguably because of the presence of summer signing Lucas Torreira who has had an incredible start to life in north London.
There has been a lot of talk regarding Mesut Ozil’s absence and the German should return to the starting lineup as Arsenal will need his ability to pick a pass against Burley who might play a narrow set-up.
Attack
Alex Iwobi and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang might start as the two wide players with Mkhitaryan set to miss out. Alexandre Lacazette should lead the line.
Lacazette
Aubameyang – Ozil – Iwobi
Xhaka – Torreira
Kolasinac – Sokratis – Koscielny – Lichtsteiner
Leno
