Arsenal v Burnley
Football: England, Premier League 2009/2010
Saturday, 6th March 2010 - Kickoff 3pm

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Arsenal

Arsenal won at a tough venue last week and once again closed the gap on leaders Chelsea in the race for the Premier League title although much of that was overshadowed by the sad news that Aaron Ramsey broke his leg in a tackle with Ryan Shawcross. Arsene Wenger is hoping this can galvanise his side to really go for the title and not affect them detrimentally as it did 2 years ago after Eduardo suffered the same injury.

The Gunners are 3rd in the table, but only 3 points behind Chelsea with 10 games left to play. It has been a remarkable season as Arsenal were pretty much ruled out of the race after losing back to back games against Manchester United and Chelsea. They have an 11-1-2 record at the Emirates this season, scoring 38 goals and conceding 14 in those games. Only the top 2 sides have won at Arsenal and they are also the only sides to have scored more home goals.

Arsenal have won 3 straight Premier League games since losing to Chelsea and only conceded 1 goal in that time. They have also won 3 of their last 4 at the Emirates Stadium and have won all 7 games there against sides in the bottom half. Arsenal have scored 25 goals in those games and only conceded 5.

Andrey Arshavin, Diaby and William Gallas are all unlikely to be risked here, especially with the 2nd leg of the last 16 match in the Champions League following this one. Alex Song is suspended for the game.

Burnley

Owen Coyle left Burnley and many of their fans must have been underwhelmed when recently sacked manager of Sheffield Wednesday, Brian Laws, was given the task of keeping them in the Premier League. He has really struggled to implement his ideas and Burnley are in real trouble now.

The side is currently sitting in 19th in the Premier League but are only 1 point off the safety mark. A concern for the fans will be the poor goal difference, and that may make all the difference when it comes to relegation positions at the end of season. Another problem to address is their awful away record which has seen them pick up 1 point from 14 Premier League games. Burnley have only scored 10 goals on their travels, while conceding a league high of 43.

Burnley have now lost 7 of their last 8 Premier League games and they have only won 1 of their last 16. Whereas they were relying on their performances at Turf Moor under Owen Coyle, they are now struggling to pick up points there which leaves them in this position. The side has lost 8 straight away games and 7 of those were by 2 goals or more.

Stephen Caldwell is missing for this game although Graham Alexander may return at right back. Chris McCann is also a doubt.

Head to Head

The 2 sides have not met in a League game at the new home of Arsenal, but they were beaten in a FA Cup tie here 3-0 last season.

A young Arsenal side were beaten by Burnley last season in the Carling Cup at Turf Moor.

The two sides drew 1-1 at Turf Moor earlier this season.

Prediction

Arsenal will look to continue with the momentum they have picked up over the last couple of weeks and also to keep confidence high in preparation for the visit of Porto on Tuesday night. Nicolas Bendtner is a welcome return to the side and gives them a different option up front which may help here.

Burnley are struggling and will know that anything they pick up here is a bonus. They have been awful away from home, struggling to concede less than 2 goals and also to score goals. Brian Laws will hope to keep this tight but will also know that this is not where the points will come if they are to survive.

I cannot see beyond an Arsenal win, and a comfortable one at that. I dont think they will be resting players now they are back in the title hunt, and they could find themselves top of the league, for a couple of hours, with a 4 goal win. I have to pick the easy Arsenal win here.

The Pick :

Arsenal 4-0 Burnley

HANDICAP BETTING :

Arsenal -2.5 goals Asian Handicap