Arsene Wenger says this afternoon’s trip to Burnley will be a test of Arsenal’s nerve as they look to secure a win that would take them into the top four above Liverpool and Sp*rs.
Sean Dyche’s side have only lost twice this season and sit level with the Gunners on points in the Premier League table after three wins on the bounce. Earlier in the week, Wenger described Burnley as snake-like given how deadly they’ve been in front of goal this season.
He’s expecting a tough test after the high of last weekend’s North London derby victory and thinks his squad will have to balance both their attacking and defensive ambitions.
“The intensity of the [Tottenham] game was total because both teams went for it,” he told Arsenal Player.
“Both teams, every time they won the ball, went forward so the intensity was higher.
“Every game gives you a different problem to sort out, for you to find a strategic solution to be efficient. Against Burnley, that will be different. They are a team who maybe play a bit deeper than Tottenham because they have a strong defensive efficiency.
“You have to keep your nerve, even if you have the ball, to be calm and accurate. You have to be defensively strong as well because they are very efficient going forward.
“Burnley are the most unexpected team to be there with 22 points. You cannot deny that, of course. But if you analyse our games physically, we have been strong physically since the start of the season.”
The boss also touched on the importance of being able to rotate his squad this season, with an entirely new line-up expected from the one that lost to Cologne in the Europa League on Thursday.
“We should benefit from the fact that we can rotate a lot in the Europa League and in the Premier League,” he noted.
“Everybody’s back and available now basically, so hopefully we can take advantage of that because the schedule is absolutely tremendous.
“You sometimes demand that you can just have a breather because it’s not only physical, it’s more mental. You need to find the mental resources every time to be up for it in the Premier League. That is so demanding and that’s why we should benefit from it.”
We have few excuses, great players in many positions, rested mid week so just need to be as tough and energetic as against Sp*rs.
Burnley will be tough at home and very defensive so need to score and then get them having to come at us.
Two 2-0 wins then lots of 1-0s and draws. Burnley aren’t going to score many against us, so hope the defence is solid and we get a first half goal to put the pressure on them.
I can see us getting a professional 2-0 win today.
Likewise..
I’m going for a 6-1 win with Alexis+Lacazette both bagging hatricks
We should be top of the league since we’re able to fully rotate but we’re not
Omg..I have a lot of burnley players in fantasy team..
U must be hoping for a Burnley vs Arsenal 5 – 7 thriller
Its great if we can have live chat during arsenal match
yes,calm AND commited,with the hubcaps,the chavs and s666s dropping points,it`s this kind of game we NEED to win…………COYG
Forgive me, but are the hubcaps Liverpool?
Yes indeed,it’s the Merseyside thing…. COYG
I say it’s a 1 all draw. That’s the way we roll. I hope I’m wrong and it’s a clean sheet and a few goals for The Arsenal instead. Put Sp*rs in their place again
I wouldn’t mind a last minute offside handball goal for us again. Three points please
Pretty much what we got – and I am delighted! 1-0 is good enough
Andrew, Err no questions were answered against spurs last week, and there should be no reason why we shouldn,t win today, if we don’t then we are in deep, deep trouble
With ‘fans’ like you Ronaldo,who needs Spuds fans?
I think AW will play Welbz upfront and because he´s so rusty he will probably squander loads of “sitters” – boring 0-0 I´m afraid.