And so to Turf Moor, where Burnley will host us at the proper time for a football match, three o’clock on a Saturday.
Burnley has played at Turf Moor since 1883, making it the second-longest continuously used ground in English league football after Preston North End’s Deepdale. On our first visit, for an FA Cup tie in 1896, we lost 6-1. Bert Russell, Woolwich Arsenal’s goalkeeper that day, would never play for the club in a competitive match again, although, to be fair, he had also never played in one before.
Our first victory there did not come until November 1902, with a 3-0 win in a Division 2 league game. Since then, apart from a period after World War One when Burnley were runners-up and then League champions (1919-20 and 1920-21), and later when Harry Potts’s team, featuring Jimmy Adamson and Sammy McIlroy, was a force as the 1950s gave way to the 1960s (champions in 1959-60 and runners-up in 1961-62), our visits to Turf Moor have generally not been too troublesome.
We haven’t lost in the league there since 1973, and only once since 1967. However, there have been only 19 league visits as Burnley fell from grace, avoiding relegation from the Football League in 1986-87 by the skin of their teeth. An unlikely win against promotion-chasing Leyton Orient on the last day of the season lifted them off the bottom of the Fourth Division.
Its uneven and sometimes uneasy climb back to the top flight was completed by 2009-10, and even since then, there have been several returns to the Championship.
Our most recent visit was in February 2024. Vincent Kompany had taken over as manager after the club’s then-newish US owners, ALK Capital, had given Sean Dyche the tin tack in April 2022, ahead of another relegation to the Championship. The Belgian brought them straight back up, but we gave his young team a 5-0 dose of home schooling. Burnley would go down again, and Kompany to Bayern Munich.
Scott Parker — a manager I find irritating, perhaps because of his choice of sweaters, probably because that taint of the Middlesex marshes can never be wholly eradicated — brought them up again at the first opportunity. He now has them five points and two places above the relegation zone after a 3-2 win at Molineux last weekend, which extended their unbeaten run to two matches.
Nevertheless, the gentlemen of the turf still consider Burnley as second favourites to go down again, even if Opta’s supercomputer predicts they will survive by a point.
The opposition
Parker likes to play a 4-2-3-1, but has deployed a 5-4-1 against the stronger teams.
Veteran Slovak keeper Martin Dubravka will be between the sticks. He joined in July from Newcastle — one of 14 summer signings — to replace young James Trafford, who had moved to Man City’s bench. Dubravka’s last-minute save against Wolves stopped Burnley from leaving Molineux with just a point last Sunday, and his four prior saves, with none.
With Wales international Connor Roberts off games, Kyle Walker should start at right wing-back. He was another summer signing, from Man City via a loan at AC Milan. On the opposite flank will likely be Quilindschy Hartman, a Dutchman a dozen years the 35-year-old Walker’s junior, but whose career has been blighted by two serious knee injuries.
They will likely flank the lanky young Frenchman, Maxime Estève, the Swedish international Hjalmar Ekdal, and Axel Tuanzebe, who has just regained his place in DR Congo’s national team that will hope to qualify for next year’s World Cup finals via the Africa play-offs.
Tuanzebe, a product of the Man U youth system, was picked up from Ipswich on a free in the summer. He has also recently returned to the Burnley side, having missed the first six league games due to a muscular injury. German centre-half Jordan Breyer, however, remains a long-term injury absentee.
Florentino, a former Portugal U-21 international on loan from Benfica, and club captain, Josh Cullen, the Essex-born Irish international who learned his trade at West Ham but arrived at Burnley from Anderlecht at the same time as Kompany, will likely share the defensive midfield duties. Lesley Ugochukwu, the France U-23 international whom Burnley bought from Chelsea in the summer for €28.7 million after being on loan at Southampton, has been playing himself into full match fitness and is an option, either to start or from the bench. He likes a pop at goal from distance, and is Burnley’s joint second-highest scorer with two goals.
Another who could either start or come off the bench is Josh Laurent, a Leytonstone-born journeyman DM (now 30 and Burnley is his ninth club). Parker has used him in the backline as an auxiliary centre back, and he has covered for the injured Ekdal in recent matches. If Ekdal does not have 90 minutes in his legs, Laurent could keep his starting place.
Parker also has Hannibal to bring on as the legs tire. The French-born midfielder has 37 caps for Tunisia, despite still being only 22. Does he come with elephants?
Jaidon Anthony, yet another summer signing, this time from Bournemouth, has been an ever-present on the wing this season and Burnley’s main goal threat. He is the club’s top scorer with four goals, and has had twice as many shots and twice as many on target as any teammate.
Parker has variously paired Anthony with the Denmark international Jacob Bruun Larsen, signed from Stuttgart in the summer, and France U-21 international Loum Tchaouna, who arrived from Lazio at the same time. Parker can also call on Marcus Edwards, the Londoner who made his name at Sporting but has been an unused sub in the league this season, apart from five minutes in the first game.
Zian Flemming, whose loan from Millwall was made permanent in the summer after being Parker’s first-choice striker for much of last season, will probably lead the line, having regained the role he lost to Lyle Foster at the start of this season after the South Africa international returned from the last interlull with a knock. Foster scored the winner against Wolves from the bench, but will likely start there again as he rebuilds fitness.
The Dutchman has been preferred over Slough-born Albania international Armando Broja — yes, you guessed it, signed in the summer from Chelsea for €22 million — and the veteran Ashley Barnes, who has played more than 300 games for the club. Switzerland’s striker Zeki Amdouni, who converted a loan from Benfica into a permanent transfer in the summer, is out following ACL surgery.
Scoring goals — 12 in nine league matches despite having the lowest xG in the league — has been less of a problem for Burnley this season than preventing them. Only the bottom two clubs have conceded more than Burnley’s 17 goals. Against Wolves, the second-lowest-scoring side in the league, Burnley’s defence appeared weak, particularly in the air. Nicolas Jover must be licking his lips in anticipation.
The Arsenal
Kai Havertz, Jesus, Noni Madueke, and Martin Ødegaard remain our long-term injuries. Gabriel Martinelli is out. William Saliba is a doubt, better rested than risked, in my opinion. I expect many changes from the starting XI against Brighton midweek, reverting to something similar to the one that beat Palace. Thus:
Raya
Timber, Mosquera, Gabriel, Calafiori
Zubimendi, Rice, Eze
Saka, Gyokeres, Trossard
That XI should be too strong for Burnley, not that there are any routine wins for anyone in the Premier League. Parker has called on Burnley fans to make the atmosphere at Turf Moor, where his team has lost only once this season, as hostile to the visitors as they can.
Arteta’s ask of his team will be to remain relentless in accumulating three points in every game, regardless of the opposition. A 3-0 win would make for a satisfactory trip north.
Enjoy the game, ‘holics, near and far.
Thanks for a comprehensive preview. I hope the team maintain their twin habits of winning and keeping a clean sheet! COYG !
Nice preview Ned. The last time I was at Turf Moor I got hit by feta and sun dried tomatoes. I assumed it was friendly fire. https://www.goonerholicsforever.com/?p=3958
This time, having failed to get a ticket I’ll be stream hunting. Not something I have to do very often. Any tips?
Thanks Ned for your usual encyclopaedic preview information !
Parker has been very flattering of the club and Mikel Arteta this week which seems to have made me a bit more tolerant of his cardigans ! Him and Hurzeler, eh – hardly Moss Bros is it ? Does he really need to implore the Burnley Banshees to make the atmosphere hostile though ? They usually make the Stokies look quite calm and measured.
I understand that Burnley did consider moving to a new stadium some time ago as some of their players wanted to play on a plastic pitch. The move was called off though as the other players liked to play on turf more 🤷♂️
Your 3-0 sounds nice 👍🏻
Hope you don’t mind me reposting this extract from my very late comment on CER’s Brighton report – Uply and Noosa raised the issue of the celebratory knee slide and Uply asked for an opinion.
Noosa, Uply – on the celebratory knee slide. I have commented on it before in the bar and find it a crazy thing to do especially in light of our recent history with knee injuries. I was amazed to see Saka do it on Wednesday. That thrust of the femur forwards over the head of the tibia is classic ACL territory. If I was head physio at Arsenal it would be banned.
Your usual superb preview Ned- excellent stuff
This is a very sad day for Gooner’s as we have lost two of our old players . Willie Young was clearly unwell when interviewed at the Ems a few years ago and Bertie Mee’s first signing Colin Addison died today as well
RIP to both gentlemen.
As for tomorrow I think we will have to work hard but will have too much for them . 3-0 looks good to me
Thanks Ned! History, humor, tactical dissection of the opposition and the most interesting of trivia about the opposition players, try getting a LLM to write a preview like that! Human creativity is very far from being obsolete, I believe we have just been warming up. 🙂
Same as Arsenal’s creativity this season. We are just getting started. 🙂
The team selection looks the likeliest. It was good to be able to completely rest Zubimendi, Gyökeres, Calafiori in the midweek. Hope Saliba and Martinelli return very soon, at least after the international break.
Speaking of the midweek game, thanks CER for the enjoyable review. Didn’t get a chance to comment.
Would be great if we can continue the impressive defensive run of not conceding goals. Haven’t seen Burnley play this season but based on Ned’s report, they don’t seem to be as ill-prepared for the league that I thought they might be. Scored a fair number of goals.
A 3-0 away victory would be great. I will take a 2-0 as well.
Come on Arsenal!
Usually Ned’s previews put the frighteners on me in the sense that, a team I anticipated was going to be a walkover, emerges from the dark recesses, amazingly able to field a barrowload of technically talented super athletes well equipped to do us real damage.
This current effort does not leave me with that sense. Quite the opposite in fact. Should I be worried, I wonder?
I’ve been to Turf Moore once. Getting in was fine, getting out of Burnley whittled a great many hours off this young life of mine and I won’t be hurrying back there any time soon (friendly fire or not C100).
That team looks like a goodun, Ned, but given the calibre of the opposition I wonder if Eze and Timber might rotate out at the start giving Nwaneri and White some more minutes in the front line.
3-0 would be a most welcome outcome but as always a win of any size, shape colour or texture will do me just fine.
COYG and NLFE
Thanks Ned, usual thorough run down
of the opposition led by our old friend
Scotty. Excellent as ever, the preview
that is and not Scotty of course.
3-0 works for me
I liked your XI Ned but, given your thoughts on Burnley’s
weakness at set pieces, maybe Merino could be slotted
in at CF to give Gyokeres a little more time off.
@5 I hadn’t seen that sad news TTG.
Colin Addison was a year or two before my time but I remember
Willie Young well, especially his finest hour when he held off Liverpool over an
endless series of cup replays. I will raise a 🥃 to them both before the
Burnley game
RIP Willie ! Willie ! Willie !
Don’t think I’ll ever forget the sight of him marauding up the left wing, in front of the North Bank, fighting to keep the ball and chucking in a cross !
And RIP Colin Addison.
Thanks for the kind words, all.
Sad news about Willie Young and Colin Addison. RIP.
BtM: Your experiences remind me that we should have the traditional airing of the punk poet John Cooper Clarke’s Burnley:
Cheers Ned!
RIP Willy Young. The first Arsenal ‘cult hero’ I saw in the flesh.
Saliba’s back!
Arsenal: Raya, Timber, Calafiori, Saliba, Gabriel, Rice, Zubimendi, Eze, Saka, Trossard, Gyokeres
Subs: Arrizabalaga, Mosquera, White, Hincapie, Norgaard, Nwaneri, Merino, Lewis-Skelly, Dowman
Ned@12 – nice work in bringing in the dulcet tones of Dr JCC. I still have the sound of a live machine-gun rendering of the immortal Chickentown – before a Squeeze gig, bizarrely enough- running round my head. The man’s a genius.
Oh, and thanks for an excellent and very informative preview.
Gary Neville on the Peacock feed. Doesn’t the greedy bastard have enough money?
He’s next to Lee Dixon. “Another Saturday afternoon at the golf club ruined”
Corner, Rice, Head, Head 1-0
See. Big Vic doesn’t only score with his huge old chap!
Victor Gyokeres, sniffling the header.
Some idiot in the drinks suggested resting him for
Merino earlier.
They look quite panicked at the corners now.
Great chance one on one for Saka, keeper did well
but I’d have bet on him to score that.
Pushing for a second now
BBC report: “Handing a set-piece to this Arsenal side is a dangerous game and so it proves as the Gunners take the lead.
The away end is packed and absolutely bouncing.”
Even without c100 and son on hand. What strength on the bench.
2-0. Set piece again. Well, we broke and scored from their set piece. Tee hee.
Declan boshed that in like Nat Lofthouse. Old school
Yeah. The Burnley player was holding up two fingers before he took the
long throw, I didn’t realize he meant for our second.
Nice finish by Declan.
2-0 half time
Could quite easily have been four or five
Superb half of football. Totally dominant.
vik’s best game in our shirt. a template, hopefully, for these games against the low-block teams. what a pass for trossard!
Why is Gyokeres off?
I suppose we’ll find out afterwards about Gyokeres,
Easy win and 7 points clear.
We roll on. Relentlessly. Only Dubravka prevented the predicted 3-0. I told you that the Burnley defence was weak in the air!
CER@16: John Cooper Clarke is a national treasure, if sadly little known these days beyond those of discerning taste.
OM@31. I suspect Gyokeres being replaced by Merino for the second half was because we have a CL game in Prague on Tuesday. It looks like the idiot in the drinks was only half an idiot, though 🙂
Arteta said Victor had a muscular niggle. Zubi asked to come off, not sure why (he can’t play Tuesday anyway). Both came onto the pitch at the end to applaud the away fans so hopefully nothing serious.
Discerning taste. You’ll never see a nipple in the Daily Express.
Both Spurs and Chelsea defences were total pony.
>>>>>>>