"It's a test" - Mark Lawrenson makes big scoreline prediction for Burnley vs Arsenal

Former Liverpool defender turned television pundit Mark Lawrenson has backed Arsenal to beat Burnley comfortably. The former Republic of Ireland international has predicted a 3-0 victory for the Gunners against Vincent Kompany's side.

Arsenal will be high on confidence after a 6-0 win against West Ham United last week following a hugely crucial win against title rivals Liverpool. The Gunners have won their last four league games including big wins against Crystal Palace and West Ham United.

Lawrenson has claimed that Mikel Arteta's side are the favorites against Burnley who have a lot of flaws in their game. He predicted a 3-0 win for the north London giants. Lawrenson told Paddypower:

"I’ve just mentioned Burnley’s obvious flaws so I can’t see anything other than a big away win. It’s a test for Arsenal because they are expected to win and we’ll see if they can cope with that but I see them winning comfortably."

Mark Lawrenson's prediction: Burnley 0-3 Arsenal

Mikel Arteta's side find themselves third in the Premier League table, two points behind leaders Liverpool. Meanwhile, Burnely are sitting 19th, seven points behind 17th-placed Luton Town.

The reverse fixture at the Emirates in November ended in a 3-1 win for the Gunners, in which Fabio Vieira was sent off. Leandro Trossard, William Saliba and Oleksandr Zinchenko found the back of the net for Mikel Arteta's side while Josh Brownhill scored for the Clarets.

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Mikel Arteta refuses to rule Arsenal out of race to sign Kylian Mbappe

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has claimed that the Gunners deserve to be in the conversation for the signature of Kylian Mbappe. The French superstar's future is up in the air right now with the attacker deciding to run his deal down at Paris Saint-Germain (PSG).

While Real Madrid remain favorites to land Mbappe on a free transfer, Mikel Arteta has claimed that the Gunners should also be in the conversation. He insisted that when a player of Mbappe's caliber is available, the north London side must be in the race. Arteta said, as quoted by The Guardian:

"When there is a player of that caliber, we always have to be in that conversation. But it looks in a different way, that's what I would say."

Mbappe has been in a rich vein of form for PSG this season, scoring 31 times and registering seven assists in 30 appearances across competitions. In total, he has 243 goals and 105 assists in 290 games for the French giants and has won 13 trophies.