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Confirmed Arsenal team to face Burnley – Chambers starts

With another gruelling trip to Athens coming up on Thursday, Mikel Arteta will have to pick his starting line-up carefully today so Arsenal can try and get a advantage over Olympiakos to take back to the Emirates.

But we also need a win today to keep our own momentum going, and this was Patrick’s Predicted Arsenal XI for today…

Leno
Bellerin Luiz Gabriel Tierney
Partey Xhaka
Saka Odegaard Aubameyang
Lacazette

I personally think we’ll see Pepe and Willian back with Saka to be rested a little, and maybe Holding to partner Gabriel so we can save the experience of Luiz for Thursday.

And I have a funny feeling that Partey won’t be playing the full 90 minutes and Arteta may start with Ceballos instead.

It is certainly good for our run-in they we have zero injuries at the momen, and it will be very interesting to see how Arteta uses the full squad to our advantage.

Well the team should be announced any second now, and……

Here it is!

Leno, Chambers, Tierney, Luiz, Mari, Xhaka, Partey, Saka, Odegaard, Willian, Aubameyang.

Subs: Ryan, Bellerin, Gabriel, Ceballos, Pepe, Holding, Lacazette, Eleney, Martinelli.

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203 Comments

  1. Good Line up
    Bit surprised with inclusion of Chambers as RB Exclusion of Pépé..
    But this should be able past Burnley comfortably..

  2. A very strong lines up
    The surprise of the day is chambers, it will be an interesting game with what I see as a full force line up…
    Auba is a very strong bet to score with the players around him

  3. Hopefully Willian continues his recent decent form. Would have prefer pepe start though ahead of willian

    Aubameyang scores some good goals against Burnley in the past. Hoping he does well together against some strong defenders in that Burnley team…

    Where is Cedric? Nothing even on the bench. Injured or out for some personal reasons?

    Lets hope chambers performs well today.

    Coyg. Leggo..

  4. Good to see some extra height at the back the with inclusion of Chambers as Burnley do tend to sling a lot of balls into the box.

  5. Interesting to see where Willian will play??
    As RW or LW
    Our both wingers are very flexible..
    They can switch Flanks at their will..
    It will joyful to watch..

  6. Welcome back, Chambers!! COYG
    It’s that blue kit ☹

    Let’s hope Andre Marriner and Kevin Friend (var) have a good game!

  7. It seems Cedric is not available.This should be first game for Chambers this season,please correct me if am wrong.

  8. I believe Burnley’s LW isn’t quick, so Chambers would likely be okay at the RB position. Odegaard and Chambers will retrieve any ball possession loss from Saka

  10. This line up should get a win.
    Is Xhaka a robot? The guy does not get any rest.

    I would like to see Martinelli, Pepe, Lacazette and Ceballos come in second half.

    2. Rarely gets injured also, SJ.. a robot?! 😜
      I’m with you – would love to see those come on 👍

  11. Season over ladies and gentlemen,stop watering dead flowers.Arsensl is certified midtable team under Arteta.If you think this novice manager will win the europa league you’re day dreaming.

    1. “Season over ladies and gentlemen,stop watering dead flowers”

      Well then stop commenting on dead flowers….

    2. @lord Denning Stfu. You say nothing positive about Arsenal and Arteta. You only whine and whine like a little girl, it’s becoming so pathetic.

      1. @gibson I know a better arsenal than this,We want our arsenal back, currently the team is a true reflection of Arteta as a player , certified midtable mediocrity.Im not watching the paint dry sorry.

        2. @Lord Denning we all want that arsenal also but we fail to understand that Arteta himself will not perform magic, we are in a process of rebuilding and it takes time to achieve what we all want, which is the success of our beloved club. I still do not trust Arteta but I’m willing to give him the benefit of doubt, the constant whining and bashing will only lead to ‘negativity’, and it’s not something we need right. We just need to support the club irrespective of where we are right now and hope that with time things will change for the better.

        3. So you wont watch it but you will come and talk sh#t about it? Think you need a hobby bro, I recommend a bit of crochet 👍

  12. With Arteta you cannot tell. Other coaches can’t predict. The only constant is Leno. We have a match on Thursday and, then Sp*ds. We need to ration our good players. Welcome Chambers.

  14. I think people just want to see some players play without reasoning the tactical decision behind being left out from the starting 11.
    Why not Martinelli? May be bcos it will be physical match with Burnley today.
    Pepe should have started ahead Willian? Pepe needs space to run but we all know Burnley will pack the Bus.
    Ooh!Chambers?yes, cos Burnley will bank on area balls and set pieces to unsettle our defence line.
    I think there may be other reasons from Arteta too but we hope it turns out well.
    What do you think guys?

    1. Akin, I agree with your reasoning which agrees with MA’s reasoning too. The thought of Bellerin facing high balls from Burnley, at corners esp, was frightening and is now not so , with the far tougher Chambers in his place.

  15. Why do we have Chambers on our books? I know the fact that he’s starting makes this a strange time to ask.

    I don’t think hes a bad player by any means but why do we even have him on our books. Recent managers have all overlooked him and he’s rarely even on the bench. Strange situation.

    1. Emery didn’t overlook him. He was arguably our best defender until he got injured last year. Always felt he was unlucky this season not to get more game time. Hopefully he shines today.

  16. Thrilled – and I DO NOT EXGAGGERATE- to see Bellerin dropped. Hope and pray this means he is on the way out and not just rested today.

    He has been a long standing hole in our defence, not the only one of course but since Sokratis and Mustafi left, certainly the worst. Nice lad but bl—dy awful defender.

  19. I take it then that lord denning wont be posting anything else today as he has stated he wont watch the game
    COYG

      1. Hope we can get the 2nd soon. If there’s ever a team that gets a ton of missed chances that comes back to haunt them it’s Arsenal

        COYG

  28. I find it really odd how we can go from so bad to so good and vice versa.

    We seems play roughly 5 games really well then 5 games really poor….and repeat. Very strange

    Lets hope this upswing last to the end of season.

  29. at the start of the season we had pretty much no clear chances in games, now we have many chances and it’s just the matter of being more clinical.

        1. Unbelievable, Kev!! If it carries on like this – screaming at the tv – I’ll sound like Sean Dyche at full time 😂

          1. Haha we’ll all sound like Dyche after that Xhaka assist for wood 😂 we love giving the opposition the easiest of chances Sue 😣

      2. If anyone or team is in need of breaking any drought, we the ones to play 🤦‍♂️

    3. Sue, what is Leno thinking not hacking the back pass from Mari down field, but passing 6 m to Xhaka. Then Xhaka gives a “no look pass”!
      Arsenal shoot themselves in the head, not the foot! Second half to rectify the situation. COYG.

  33. Am tired of saying it but as long as we play the likes of xhaka and Luiz we will be a mid table team … 40 mins of torrid mistake kaden football

  34. Instead of being 3 goals up, we give a cheap goal away! Bu- but it is the manager’s fault.

    1. I said early on the thread. We get soooo mzny chznces every game and all the misses so often come back to haunt us

  35. Swearing at the fans and fu##ing up on a regular basis getting red cards for stupidity but we still have xhaka in the starting 11.

  39. Honestly I despair!
    Were the team that are guaranteed to gift at least one goal to the opponent!
    The circus clowns are in town again 🙁

  40. Xhaka wasn’t at fault for that goal..This is all on Leno..Passing to Xhaka when there are two Burnley players on his tail Is the height of stupidity..
    How long will Leno need to learn this passing from the back game…
    He did something like this against olympiacos and they dumped us out of the Europa League last season..

    And how many chances do we need to score a goal… Utterly abysmal football..

    2. Rubbish, clear instructions from the manager to play out. High risk strategy

      Do you honestly think Leno wants to play out like that? Dont be naive

    3. That makes no sense
      Xhaka was coming to collect the ball ,he wanted it he should have disposed of it better .
      The only thing Leno is guilty of is trusted Xhaka to get rid of it .

    4. Sorry Jimmy but you are wrong.
      Xhaka gets 100k per week to play football so you would think he can kick the bloody thing somewhere other than an opposing player.
      If Leno choses close passes its because that is what the manager wants which means that’s what they practice every day at training.

    5. Xhaka is frightened of receiving the ball as his touch and control is pathetic so it’s true playing it to him is a disaster but having him in the team is where the problem lies …

    6. Leno shouldn’t have made that pass to start with, but Xhaka gave the ball away easily. For a professional, it is not acceptable

  41. Not the sort of assist that Xhaka wanted

    Really good chances have been missed and should have been taken before his cock up.

    1. Yes… Xhaka had back to Burnley player, however Leno was seeing a Burnley player behind Xhaka,s back..
      He should cleared it long could have played it Luiz
      Leno Put Xhaka in wrong position in the 1st place
      Both played their part in mistake

    2. Don’t put it on Leno @Declan. Xhaka came calling for the ball and could have hit it one time.

    3. MA strategy is to pass out from the back. CBs split and a midfielder fetches as you can cleary see Xhaka coming and calling for the ball.

      How you can blame Leno for doing exactly what his manager has asked is beyond me

  44. Always the individual mistakes just like wolves game all over again. We are playing good many chances and boom we gift them a goal.

    1. Leno should know better. With a player in his back, he’s got nowhere to go and has to play with his weaker foot.. Leno should just cleared it

      1. @mrlucky there were so many things an experience player such as xhaka would have done
        1) try to play the ball back to your keeper for him to clear it
        2) try to pass the ball to your left back who was clearly unmarked
        3) try to dispose of the ball immediately.

        1. It was a poor decision by Xhaka, I’m not saying he’s not at fault, but Leno should have cleared it in the first place. Check the goal again. He cant pass to Tierney because then he needs to make an unnatural body movement. Also Leno was too close to him so play it back to Leno wasnt an option as well. He should have hit a first time pass to Chambers, but his right foot is just not good enough for that

    2. Stop blaming leno or Arteta, Xhaka came to receive the ball, he should play the ball to Tierney or try to dispose of it but instead he chose one of the most ridiculous option which is trying to play the over an opposition player. It’s all his fault.

  47. Pope was supposed to be able to block Aubameyang’s shot and Aubameyang missed one golden chance. Saka missed two easy chances

    Leno should’ve cleared the ball and Xhaka shouldn’t have asked for the ball. We wouldn’t win EL if we keep missing easy chances

    1. The assumption that we are in with a chance for EL is beyond wishful thinking … we will end the season with nothing … should be trying to establish a style of football sadly arteta doesn’t have one

        1. Saka had a decent chance but nothing was clear cut … and all emerged from defensive melees… people making too much of saka here it’s not the problem … it’s low energy with no movement in the middle with xhaka inferiority to the fore and no pace … the willian delusion hasn’t helped

    2. Leno was not at fault at all, obeyed managers instructions perfectly. It’s your favourite one foot wonder who is to blame.

      1. Leno shouldn’t have passed the ball to Xhaka, since Xhaka was surrounded by two Burnley players

        1. So why didn’t Xhaka just clear it? Why did he try keep the ball alive in such a bad situation?

          Maybe because it’s the game plan? The same game plan Leno was following?

  48. Take off saka he is not giving his 100 percentage , he might be tired what ever the reason please take him off , he missed two wonderful chances to score,

  49. We overdo the “play from the back” it is so annoying. Leno yet again proving he is inferior to Martinez- some will blame Xhaka but Leno was so stupid there, he could see the whole play right in front of him, try to pick a long pass ffs!

    This is basically the story of our season.

  50. We should still win this but we have to be far more clinical in front of goal. Saka’s miss was really really bad probably as bad as you will see today but I dont see anyone giving him a hard time

    2. My only concern is that giving away such a cheap goal is going to send jitters through the team. If Arteta can get their minds sorted at halftime, I agree, we got this.

  52. Keown agrees, Leno was at fault for not clearing long. The argument that Arteta insists on playing out doesn’t discount the keeper from making his own decision.

    1. Xhaka had a clear passing opportunity to Chambers, but he can’t pass in one pass like every normal DM can, so he tried to touch the ball twice and his angle was narrowed. Lenos’ pass was not great but reasonable and a professional DM should be able to handle that.

    3. So what the manager tells players to do doesn’t matter 🤣 also Keown played in a time where playing out from the back barely existing so his opinion doesn’t mean much

    4. Declan by your own logic that Leno should ignore instructions from his manager and “make his own decision”

      When Xhaka received the pass should he not have done the same thing and made his own decision to just clear the ball? I mean if the pass was so bad

      2. Xhaka was not in a position to make a clearance. However, he should have done better than hitting a opponent

  53. Playing from the back works for teams like Barcelona and Bayern who are good with the ball. Not with the likes of Xhaka who crumble under any pressure or the CBs we have. Nor is Leno good with his feet.

    1. Isn’t that the entire point. Xhaka is not good enough. He has been at Arsenal for so long and seen the club slide down from perennial top four to mid table. What has his experience taught him? He should be the one leading the way. His apologists must be blind or willing to expect such a low standard.

  54. Imagine if that clearence from Xhaka had hit the hands of Wood’s and resulted in goal what a controversey it would have been?

  55. And we have the token mistake commenters pouncing like a cheetah on a guzel, wouldn’t even know you exist if not for our mistakes! Dont care about criticising the team but not when they are your ONLY comments, ruins your own credibility as “fans”

    COYG

  56. Skysports says, “completely ridiculous from a player that consistently lets his team down.”

    Never mind his great play for 4-5 months. If I knew English law I’d take him to court for defamation.

  57. saka piss poor martinelli scores there plus more lively than william piss poor also,blame leno no xhaka put it out 4 a corner then ball off leno muppet of a player

  58. Agree that Saka should go off but so should William, to call his pass an assistant is very generous. Can he ever again best a man?

  59. We need some early substitutes and if saka is playing below his normal standards then maybe “resting him” wasn’t the right call as good players dont want that

  60. Play out from the back when it’s safe to do so, not every bloody time especially with the way Burnley are pressing. It will still end 2-1 to us.

  61. Very poor half possession wise. We cant seem to find the 4 up front. Burnley a lot sharper than we are and we are losing most of the duels. Really hope Laca is introduced shortly because you can see we really need his hold up play to get the ball past their midfield. Odegard, Saka and Willian too anonymous in the build-up. And Auba just lacks the ability to receive the ball with his back against goal with defenders in his back, which is really causing us problems today

  62. not shocking unfortunately. just have to do better in the 2nd half. we could’ve had two goals. we cant give burnley confidence in 2nd half and need a fast start. Odegaard needs to get in this game a bit more too. hoping for a strong 2nd half start…

  63. Granit Xhaka has given 8 goals from mistake more than anyother outfield player. Not a record one would want to be associated with.

    1. We talk of resting players but xhaka never gets rested or very seldom gets substituted. He would probably have to mug the tea lady to get dropped and I’m not anti xhaka

  67. Should bring on another player possibly, give subs time to actually make an impact

    2. Agreed why wait the extra 8 minutes to bring Pepe on, just bring him on when you looking for an uplift?

  68. Trust the process the “Real Arsenal Fans” say…
    Even a blind man knows we not hearing anywhere with this manager..It doesn’t matter if he’s given 2yrs or 10yrs…
    Burnley beat us at the Emirates for the first time in ages..You’ll be forgiven to think Arteta will rile the boys up for a battle to reclaim some of our dignity..What does he do,but tell them to play 10 thousand back passes…
    The whole bunch of them are clowns..

  69. Saka needs to be subbed before he’s sent off for the accumulation of fouls he’s committed.

  70. If you are being outplayed by burnley you gotta understand that there is a systemic problem with the team …

  73. Its disgusting to watch with Burnley all over us.
    What arteta says at half time that makes them worse in the second half is beyond me.

  75. Martinelli getting looked over again ,strange seeing we are ment to be chasing the game and we bring on Laca ,what got so he can hold the ball up ? Would have though abit of pace and urgency would be needed

    1. Expecting someone to pipe up and say something along the lines of…..

      Burnley are tough and physical so he mustn’t play

      If Martinelli isn’t fit he wouldn’t be on the bench so the manager has no more excuses for not giving him playing time. The usual defenders of MA on this yopic can’t have anything logical to say anymore

  79. When people on this site say that referees aren’t cheats then you are absolutely delusional that was a spot on pen

    1. Think possibly because of the Hudson Odoi handball incident the other day?

      I know law makers are changing the rule but not sure when its active from

      1. there’s zero consistency. the argument for Odoi was that his hand was shoulder level i think. Pieters just straight up sticks his arm out as far as he can and nothing happens. Dont understand in what world that isn’t a penalty.

  82. If some crazy fan beat them these cheat down after the match It would be deserved. Need some hooligans

  84. Another game of how many missed chances….and good chances at that

    This is the least clinic Arsenal team in decades. We could score 2 goals per game but if we get 10 good chances a game it still means we not clinical

  85. Burnly the team who want to win the game, i don’t see any fighting spirit to get back in to the game , we are deserved that place where we are now at the movement, in 2000 we were in title competion later we bacame top 4 team then top 6 then top 8 now bottom half team what a progress we were made in the last decade , and also we must congratulate the club administration as well because they lowered our(fans) expectation as well

  87. Just noticed how teams have changed where the sleeve starts on their kit 😐 should be illegal to do that

      1. Never said it hit his arm bud

        Just said teams shouldn’t be allowed to do that

  90. Novice manager novice football … we have gone backwards with arteta and until fans accept it we will be an underperforming mid table outfit

    1. I would love for arteta to absolutely slaughter the ref but he wont do it he doesn’t have the balls to say anything. This isn’t a knee jerk reaction but arteta please please resign now because we have to get rid of xhaka dad as he must be to keep him in the team

  97. Very unlucky. Mikel Arteta has genuine reasons to complain about the result. That cheating CB should be sent off for a blatant handball… But we move on. COYG!!

    1. Hi Sid
      Unlucky with a couple of poor decisions but missing good chances, compounded by a defensive cock up cost us dearly. I didn’t see enough fight for my liking during some parts of the game. It was a game we should have won. Let’s hope Thursday is more positive

      1. Yeah. Couldn’t see much of the game, but from the comments, I think we had a good first half and then tapered off before coming alive in the final minutes. Pepe should have scored that, needs to concentrate, but he did have a decent game I think. That penalty decision robbed us, and Saka might have to work on his finishing a bit. But we generally have been better this last couple of weeks, so really hope we give it to those Greek giants, lol.
        COYG!!
        Also glad to see you back ma’am. Your positive comments were sorely missed here…

  99. wow not ment 2 b this game var post pepe,but xhaka how is he never injured ,rested, dropped, told to get lost,sold etc etc

  100. I’d take a giant FA fine and just have a go at the refs. This is embarrasing stuff. Worst refs in Europe! Every weekend it’s something else!!!!

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