Arsenal 0-1 Burnley: 5 talking points as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang own goal seals the game | Premier League 2020-21

Arsenal have won each of their last nine home games against Burnley in all competitions but on Sunday, the Clarets found their way through at the Emirates.

In an uneventful first half, Chris Wood came closest to scoring for the visitors while Alexandre Lacazette forced a quick reflex save from Nick Pope. Out of the combined nine shots from both teams, only one of them had been on target.

The Gunners started well in the second half, with players moving the ball a lot faster, playing at a higher tempo, and creating more chances for Bukayo Saka and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Unfortunately, Granit Xhaka's red-card offence in the 58th minute affected the game-plan. Within 20 minutes of his dismissal, Burnley were a goal up thanks to an own goal from Aubameyang. Instead of clearing the corner, the striker headed the ball into his own net, and that was the only goal of the fixture.

With that victory, Burnley got out of the relegation zone while Arsenal are just five points away from safety. On that note, here are the five talking points from the game.

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#5 Arsenal's lack of threat in set-pieces

Willian disappoints for Arsenal again

There were seven corners in the first 45 minutes for Arsenal, but none of them resulted in shots on target. Every single effort came to nought as the Gunners tried to play things safe and were too afraid of taking risks.

Without Nicolas Pepe in the Premier League team, Willian has been tasked with corner duties. However, the Brazilian struggled to make an impact alongside Hector Bellerin.

It was extremely frustrating to watch the scenes of the half-hearted play and regardless of what the players did, their efforts were simply not good enough. The threat that the Arsenal attackers once had has been missing for a long while.

As it stands, it appears that no player in the club is confident that they can get a favourable result in the Premier League.

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#4 Arsenal need creative midfielders

There is an astounding lack of creativity in the Arsenal team

While teams like Liverpool and Leicester City are getting some headway with their crosses, the similar style of play isn't working for Arsenal, and Arteta isn't willing to give up just yet.

The game is desperately calling out for the 38-year-old to bring in a creative midfielder in the middle of the pitch when everything else on the flanks fails. However, the manager went into the season without a backup plan.

Currently, Mesut Ozil is unavailable for selection and as such, Arteta can only name youth stars Joe Willock and Emile Smith Rowe on the bench. Both performed decently well in the mid-week UEFA Europa League game but surprisingly, they had no role to play against Burnley.

Should Arsenal not sign any creative midfielders in the January transfer window, they can bring Ozil back into the squad next month. The German midfielder only has a few months left on his Arsenal contract but he is determined to play again and is already making his intention of playing known on his social media.

#3 Arsenal see second straight red in four Premier League games

Granit Xhaka was shown a red in the second half

Just when things were going well for Arsenal, Granit Xhaka let his team down by losing his cool against Ashley Westwood. Initially, referee Graham Scott pulled out a yellow card for the Swiss international's challenge on his opponent.

However, following the Video Assistant Referee's review of the incident, it clearly showed that Xhaka had grabbed Westwood by his throat. It was obvious that the midfielder has to be sent off for violent conduct.

Similar to the challenge made by Pepe a couple of weeks ago, Xhaka failed to control his frustration on the pitch. He was booed off by the fans at the Emirates Stadium and has again lost the trust of his manager as well as the Arsenal faithful.

Arsenal nearly got into trouble minutes later, with Mohamed Elneny close to being sent off. Fortunately, the Egyptian received a yellow and remained on the field.

Since Arteta took over, the Gunners have received six red cards, double that of any side in the same period.

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#2 Arsenal's defensive line-up backfires

Burnley recorded a victory to leave the relegation zone

Against a relegation team like Burnley, Arteta named Elneny and Xhaka in the midfield. Both are defensive midfielders and hardly have any clue of how to create chances for the Arsenal forwards.

In the end, one of them was sent off in the second half, and the second almost received his marching orders too. Ultimately, Arteta had to bring on Dani Ceballos and Eddie Nketiah in hopes of shaking things up.

Yet, his decision came too late, and there were no game-changers on the Arsenal bench. Without any creative midfielder, all the action had to go through the wings but the crosses put in were not good enough for any result.

Evidently, the defensive midfield pairing of Xhaka and Elneny did not work and should not be replicated.

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#1 Mikel Arteta's position under threat

Mikel Arteta hasn't shown that he can lead Arsenal to the UEFA Champions League

Arsenal may very soon sack Arteta if their poor form in the Premier League persists. When the manager took over in December last season, things went smoothly as the players progressed and had confidence in him.

A year on, things have stagnated and changed drastically. Far from the looks of FA champions, Arsenal have fallen way behind the likes of Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea. Now, they cannot even overcome Burnley or Wolverhampton Wanderers while playing at home.

The disappointing news is that there are harder fixtures around the corner as Arsenal host Southampton on Wednesday evening before heading to Goodison Park.

Having not won their last four home matches, it could soon go up to five considering the fact that the Saints are enjoying a good run this season.

Arteta has never looked so vulnerable but with unfavourable results in recent weeks, his time at Arsenal may soon be coming to an end.