Arsenal vs Burnley: 3 players who could change the game on their own in the Premier League match between the Gunners and the Clarets.
Arsenal will take on Burnley in the Premier League this weekend. Both sides came out victorious in their opening encounters and will hope to continue winning. Arsenal won against Newcastle United 1-0 in a tough contest. Burnley on the other hand ran through Southampton 3-0.
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Arsenal are dealing with long term injuries to key first team players. This meant that Unai Emery had to play a weakened side in their opening match. According to Arsenal’s website, the Gunners will miss the services of Hector Bellerin, Rob Holding, Kieran Tierney and Konstantinos Mavropanos for this match. Granit Xhaka and Mohamed Elneny will undergo late fitness tests and have their status determined later. Burnley are also dealing with injuries and will miss Robbie Brady, Steven Defour and Danny Drinkwater tomorrow.
Both Arsenal and Burnley had a disappointing campaign last season and will hope to better their performance this time around. The Clarets were fantastic in their 3-0 drubbing of Southampton and will look to do the same at the Emirates Stadium. However, they are yet to beat Arsenal since their promotion in 2014. While Arsenal will hope to continue the streak.
The Premier League has time and again proven that it is undoubtedly the most unpredictable football league in the world. Any one of those two teams can come out on top. Here are three players who could swing the game in the favour of their sides tomorrow in the Arsenal vs Burnley match.
Dani Ceballos
Unai Emery is known to not rush in new signings into his playing XI. The likes of Lucas Torreira and Bernd Leno had to wait several weeks to feature on a regular basis last season. However, with Ceballos at North London for a loan spell, he may be blooded a lot sooner than the rest. And what better than to start at Burnley right before the tough assignments of Liverpool and Tottenham in the coming weeks.
Much like Aaron Ramsey, Ceballos can play box to box. He is a versatile midfielder who can play anywhere in the pitch. His performance in the first match as a sub may not have bought the house down but he did enough to get a first team look in.
The Spanish star has been praised for his mentality by Unai Emery and the same mentality could be put to test tomorrow evening against Burnley. With the Premier League being as physical as it is, Ceballos may stand out among the men in the field.
Ashley Barnes
Ashley Barnes has been phenomenal for Burnley. He has scored 34 Premier League goals for the Clarets, which is 14 more than any other player. He was phenomenal in their opening match against Southampton where he scored a brace. Arsenal also have a suspect defence and Barnes could very well take advantage of it as well.
Barnes is an old-fashioned striker who may not be easy on the eyes but is effective on the field. He scored 12 goals last season, his best return in the Premier League to date and will hope to better himself this time around.
If Burnley have a chance to win the match against Arsenal tomorrow, it will all depend on the 29-year old and his performance. If Arsenal can keep him quiet tomorrow, they will have won half the battle.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
One piece of stat that should frighten Arsenal fans is the fact that they have lost 5 of their last 8 opening home matches. This is one trend that the gunners will hope to reverse and Aubameyang will be crucial to that end.
Aubameyang is one of if not the current best striker in the Premier League right now. He won the golden boot last season and will look to continue his rich vein of form this season. He opened his account in the game against Newcastle and scored the only goal apart from having four shots on goal. That was enough to give Arsenal a winning start to their campaign.
Aubameyang has now scored 8 goals in his last six games in all competitions. Arsenal will look to Aubameyang to provide them with more goals tomorrow evening by finding spaces in Burnley’s defence and scoring one or two. He has after all scored a brace in all 3 of his previous Arsenal vs Burnley matches before. Arsenal are looking to begin their Premier League campaign two straight wins for the first time since 2009/10 and Aubameyang will play a huge role in that.
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