Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger would have watched four of the top six teams that played on Saturday all dropping points and told himself "We cannot afford to do the same on Sunday," against Burnley.
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The Gunners certainly can't, with the gap to English Premier League leaders Chelsea, as it stands, at eight points. Arsenal can cut the gap to five with a win over Burnley, while also piling a little bit of pressure on the Blues, who have shown no signs of feeling that pressure, when they host Hull City in the match right after.
A key player who makes a big difference when he is in the Arsenal lineup – right-back Hector Bellerin – will return after missing the last match through injury.
Bellerin might have been given a torrid time by Bournemouth, but Arsenal look a much better outfit, going forward, in particular, with the Spaniard in the lineup, even if, it must be said, Gabriel has done quite well in that position in the absence of the first-choice right-back.
Joining Bellerin in making their returns from injury will be Francis Coquelin, another key player for Arsenal, and Kieran Gibbs, the left-back.
Olivier Giroud, who was suffering from a slight problem, is also back in training and should feature, but Theo Walcott is still not quite ready to come back yet, along with Per Mertesacker. Santi Cazorla and Mathieu Debuchy are the other men on the treatment table, with Mohamed Elneny still with Egypt playing in the Africa Cup of Nations 2017.
Burnley have a wonderful record at home, a record which has seen them rise near the top half of the table. With Sean Dyche's men looking quite comfortable, in terms of avoiding relegation, the focus will now be on turning Burnley into a more competitive outfit away from home as well.
Scott Arfield is set to miss this match with a knee injury, but Dyche will be happy to welcome back Johann Berg Gudmundsson, Ashley Barnes and Dean Marney.
Confirmed starting XI:
Arsenal: Petr Cech; Gabriel, Shkodran Mustafi, Laurent Koscielny, Nacho Monreal; Granit Xhaka, Aaron Ramsey; Alex Iwobi, Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez; Olivier Giroud.
Substitutes:
David Ospina, Hector Bellerin, Kieran Gibbs, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Francis Coquelin, Danny Welbeck, Lucas Perez.
Burnley:
Tom Heaton; Matt Lowton, Michael Keane, Ben Mee, Stephen Ward; George Boyd, Dean Marney, Jeff Hendrick, Steve Defour; Andre Gray, Ashley Barnes.
Substitutes:
Paul Robinson, Tendayi Darikwa, Jon Flanagan, James Tarkowski, Michael Kightly, Joey Barton, Sam Vokes.
