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Arsenal vs Burnley Preview: Injury News, Lineups, And Prediction

Arsenal vs Burnley

Theo Walcott has to repay the faith that Arsene Wenger has in him
Theo Walcott

Arsenal host Championship side Burnley FC on Saturday in a bid for a third straight FA Cup. The fourth round clash will be between third placed team in the Premier league and the third placed team in the Championship. It is also worth noting that no team since the 1880’s has gone on to lift the Cup three times in a row. After easing past a struggling Sunderland in the third round of the Cup a few weeks ago, Wenger’s team will be looking to bounce back from their disappointing 1-0 defeat against Chelsea on Sunday. Burnley are coming off a 4-1 win over Derby County at the weekend and  they are the highest scoring team in the Championship with 46 goals from 28 games, so scoring shouldn’t be a  huge problem for them.

For Arsenal this season is all about ending the long wait for the Premier League title, still it doesn’t mean they will take the FA Cup lightly. With so many players coming back from injury, the match gives Wenger the perfect opportunity to give some game time to his stars who will naturally be rusty after a lengthy lay-off. Questions over the mentality of the Arsenal squad have resurfaced in recent weeks following a three-match winless streak that continued on Sunday with defeat to London rivals Chelsea. It was only their second defeat in 13 matches but saw them drop below Manchester City and three points adrift of Leicester City. Gunners have won 13 FA Cup games in a row, the last team to beat them in the FA Cup were Blackburn Rovers back in 2013.

Burnley themselves are involved in a top of the table tussle, similar to Arsenal but it is promotion back to the top-flight that Burnley are chasing. Their chances look quite bright as they’re only four points behind the spot and are currently on an unbeaten run of six games, since the boxing day match. Burnley seem to struggle when it comes to knock-out competitions, their most successful phase in the recent years in the FA Cup came in 2011 when they reached the fifth round defeating Middlesbrough. The worrying thing for them is that they haven’t won a single FA Cup match since then.

Arsenal will be without Mertesacker for this match following his red card against Chelsea at the weekend, which means Gabriel Paulista will most likely start alongside Koscielny. Wenger will be keen to  rest a number of regular first-team players but Alexis Sanchez could make his first start since November. New boy Mohamed Elneny could finally make his debut alongside Calum Chambers if the manager decides to rest both Ramsey and Flamini. Francis Coquelin could also make an appearance from the bench. Burnley don’t have much when it comes to rotating their squad, and manager Sean Dyche could pick an unchanged side to the one that defeated  Derby on Monday night.

Predicted Arsenal Line-up: Ospina; Bellerin, Gabriel, Koscielny, Gibbs; Elneny, Chambers; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Sanchez, Campbell and Walcott

Predicted Burnley Line-up: Heaton; Lowton, Keane, Mee, Ward; Boyd, Jones, Barton, Arfield; Vokes and Gray

Predicted scoreline: Arsenal- Burnley: 3-1