Arsenal v Burnley: Premier League – live | Premier League

40 min: Rice is back in the Arsenal area to boot the ball away for a Burnley corner … it doesn’t bring the hosts any trouble.

Saka dinks a lovely ball into the mixer and Havertz, wearing an invisible jet-pack, rises high at the front post, a glancing header enough to give Arsenal the lead.

Arsenal. Corner. Goal. Standard.

37 min: Here come Arsenal again as Calafiori pulls the ball back for Ødegaard … his low drive is deflected for a corner …

36 min: VAR’s had a look and said no! There’s a tangle of legs between Saka and Lucas Pires. Gary Neville isn’t sure on comms and agrees with the ref and VAR.

34 min: Flemming misplaces a pass when Burnley have the chance to counter … and here come Arsenal down the left, the ball rolled into the middle. Saka emerges ready to tap in, and he goes down! Penalty?

33 min: Burnley’s defensive shape is holding up quite well.

30 min: Saka scoops a cross from the right that leaves a back-pedalling Weiss briefly worried.

29 min: Hannibal’s got himself a yellow … Eze takes the ball, turns and shoots on the volley, trying to replicate that Dele goal against Crystal Palace back in the day. He doesn’t get the power.

27 min: Burnley launch a dangerous-looking counter, a cross finding Hannibal in the area … he takes a touch but can’t find the balance and composure with his effort as Rice closes down, the shot travelling wide.

26 min: Free-kick time for Arsenal, from way out. Rice decides to go short before Trossard tries to wiggle away on the left. He can’t get the ball into the mixer, though.

Tim Smith writes in:

Any time I’ve seen Burnley this season, Kyle Walker, who, fair to say, is a Manchester City legend, has looked a husk of his former self. He couldn’t, could he?

And a former Spurs man. It’s written.

23 min: Saka intercepts in midfield before Ødegaard very nearly slips a sneaky pass through to Havertz in the area.

21 min: Calafiori suddenly finds himself high up on the right wing to keep an Arsenal move ticking.

19 min: Arsenal calmly wheel it around in their own half, side to side. Eze suddenly speed things up to bring Saka into play on the right. Trossard’s post-rattler remains the closest Arsenal have come.

17 min: Hannibal overcooks a cross for Burnley as the visitors venture down the right.

16 min: Trossard breaks past Walker on the left but can’t find Havertz with his ball into the middle.

15 min: Trossard cuts in from the left and launches from outside the area … the ball slams the post. Arsenal have raised the volume in the last five.

14 min: Saka is in his trademark position, launching a curling effort after cutting in from the right … it’s blocked out for a corner. Arsenal work a rehearsed move, playing it short before it lands to Havertz inside the area … he punts it wide.

12 min: Tchaouna finds the ball on the right for Burnley but his effort at goal is well blocked by Calafiori. Flemming and Trossard have a minor scrap, prompting a break in play.

10 min: Rice sits deep, examining options on the ball before Eze goes down on the left wing. Arsenal have a free-kick … with Rice to deliver into the area. Weiss, in net for Burnley, pats the ball away.

8 min: Not a heavy-metal start, this.

6 min: Eze plays a stinging ball to Havertz on the touchline, with Arsenal mainly operating down the right-hand side.

5 min: Arsenal pump up those possession stats, moving it about in midfield.

4 min: Arsenal get moving down the right, with Havertz nearly finding the ball in a dangerous spot inside the area.

2 min: Anthony plays the corner along the carpet to the front post, trying something funky … but it only leads to another Burnley corner. Florentino launches from the edge of the area … but it’s low, slow and wide.

1 min: Pires ventures down the left wing for Burnley, who win an early corner. The upset’s on!

Burnley get us going.

Arsenal and Burnley emerge to a pyro-party at the Emirates. We’ll get going shortly.

Martin Ødegaard’s had a stop-start season with injuries, scoring just once. But he was excellent off the bench against West Ham last time out, showing off his close control in the area before laying off for Leandro Trossard’s winner. The captain starts tonight, his 16th of this league campaign.

Burnley have beaten Arsenal once in the Premier League, a 1-0 win at the Emirates in December 2020.

That’s some welcome for the hosts.

Krishnamoorthy v writes in:

Imagine the mental turmoil of Arteta while he presents a picture of equanimity, imagine the pressure of every single player who must be dreading ‘will I fail today? Will I be remembered as the villain who scuppered Arsenal’s one chance at glory?’, imagine all tbe poor Gunners who must be borrowing their partner’s digits to chew on having already chewed all their own fingernails to their end, imagine if the partner is also a Gunner.

Thank heavens I am a Chelsea fan. But there is no city rivalry today.

Arsenal – march on , do whatever you have to do to ensure that Manchester City does not win (yet) another league.

A reminder of the situation:

Burnley, who have won just one league game since the end of October, are unchanged. Arsenal have replaced the injured Ben White with Cristhian Mosquera. Martin Ødegaard and Kai Havertz come in for Myles Lewis-Skelly and Victor Gyökeres.

Arsenal: Raya, Mosquera, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori, Rice, Eze, Ødegaard, Saka, Trossard, Havertz

Subs: Arrizabalaga, Hincapié, Jesus, Martinelli, Gyökeres, Madueke, Zubimendi, Lewis-Skelly, Dowman

Burnley: Weiss, Walker, Estéve, Tuanzebe, Pires, Florentino, Ugochukwu, Tchaouna, Hannibal, Anthony, Flemming

Subs: Dubravka, Hartman, Worrall, Bruun Larsen, Edwards, Humphreys, Ward-Prowse, Amdouni, Laurent

Preview reading to get stuck into:

First against 19th, the visitors already down. This should be straightforward but it just isn’t, is it? Arsenal are two victories away from their first league title in 22 years, maybe even just one if Manchester City fail to beat Bournemouth tomorrow night. Every Arsenal fan I speak to is terrified, the heart constantly throbbing, no calm to be found until it is finally over. Three second-place finishes on the bounce will do that to you. The suffering continues at 8pm BST.