Premier League 2018-19, Arsenal 3-1 Burnley: 5 Talking Points

#4 Arsenal’s rear-guard looks shaky but gets the job done

Sokratis was the only defender who looked comfortable

Arsenal started the game with a conventional back four. Sokratis and Monreal played at the heart of the defence whereas Kolasinac and Matiland-Niles were tasked with manning the flanks. However, an untimely injury to Monreal led to the Gunners shuffling their pack and switching to a back three.

With Sokratis playing as the only natural centre-back in the back three, Burnley tried to get physical and lump balls forward to Barnes and Wood. The long balls certainly threw a spanner in the Gunners’ works and none apart from the Greek looked comfortable.

Burnley were duly rewarded for their perseverance in the 63rd minute and had they been a little more imaginative in the final third, might have gotten more joy.

The games are coming quicker than one can blink and the fact that Arsenal has only a handful of fit defenders makes for grim reading.

Though the Gunners are impressing in the offensive third, their defensive frailties could just prove to be the difference between qualifying for the Champions League and being ‘also-rans’.

The winter transfer window opens at the turn of the year and Emery will have to work his socks off to identify and push through a deal for defensive reinforcements.

Arsenal weren’t punished against Burnley and considering the Clarets’ 18th position, it wasn’t much of a surprise. Yet, against a more clinical team, a single defensive slip could end up being the distance between the cup and the lip.

Thus, the sooner Arsenal put their defensive shortcomings to rest, the easier it would be to launch a sustained assault on the top four.