Arsenal welcome David Luiz and Dani Ceballos to the Emirates. Nicolas Pepe is a substitute once again. Sead Kolasinac is back in the wake of those security issues, though there’s still no Mesut Ozil.
Burnley meanwhile are in full if-it-ain’t-broke mode. They name the same starting XI sent out for last weekend’s big win over Southampton.
The teams
Arsenal: Leno, Maitland-Niles, Luiz, Papastathopoulos, Monreal, Ceballos, Guendouzi, Nelson, Willock, Aubameyang, Lacazette.
Subs: Mkhitaryan, Torreira, Pepe, Chambers, Martinez, Kolasinac, Gabriel Martinelli.
Burnley: Pope, Lowton, Tarkowski, Mee, Pieters, Gudmundsson, Cork, Westwood, McNeil, Wood, Barnes.
Subs: Taylor, Hendrick, Gibson, Rodriguez, Hart, Lennon, Bardsley.
Referee: Mike Dean (Wirral).
Preamble
If recent history is any guide, this is as close to a home banker as it’s possible to get. Arsenal have won ten games in a row against Burnley, a run that stretches back to March 2010. The Gunners have beaten the Clarets every single time they’ve played host at the Emirates, to the aggregate tune of 21-4. And Burnley haven’t won away at Arsenal since September 1974, when a goal from converted full-back Peter Noble secured the spoils in front of a Highbury crowd of only 23,586. Arsenal finished just four points above the relegation places that season, with Burnley comfortable in mid-table, but we digress.
Optimism abounds at Arsenal, with the club having splurged in the summer, and the team winning their first game of the new season at Newcastle. They’re a tough proposition at home, having won 14 out of 19 matches last season, a record only beaten by champions Manchester City and Liverpool. However, Burnley are coming off the back of a sensational 3-0 opening-day win over Southampton, so won’t be feeling too bad about themselves either. They’ll also be aware that Arsenal suffer more than most from early-season nerves; they’ve lost their first home game of the campaign in five of the last eight years.
Also, losing runs are there to be broken. With all that in mind, this looks very interesting indeed. Can Arsenal win the first two games of a Premier League season for the first time since 2009? Or can Burnley win their first two matches in the top division since 1973? It, my good friends, is very much on!
Kick off: 12.30pm BST.
