As expected, Arsene Wenger shuffled the squad minimally for the Burnley game with the likes of David Ospina, Kieran Gibbs, Gabriel Paulista, Calum Chambers, Mohamed Elneny, Francis Coquelin, Alex Iwobi and Alexis Sanchez coming into the side.

It was particularly good to see two important first team players like Sanchez and Coquelin return to the side as both players got injured in the month of November.

Arsenal huffed and puffed on the Burnley back line but the match opener arrived from the unlikeliest of sources. Alexis found a tight opening on the Burnley defense and threaded a through ball to Chambers. The right back used the outside of his foot to blast the ball past Tom Heaton in goal. His only goal for the club came against Burnley last season and he had repeated the feat.

However, the Gunners went to sleep and Sean Dyche’s team pegged the hosts back with a glancing header from Sam Vokes that left David Ospina flat-footed. The Emirates was silent after the equalizer as both teams went into the break at 1-1.

Arsenal began firing on all cylinders in the second half and Alexis scored what proved to be the winner from a perfectly timed team goal. Iwobi instigated the counter attack with a pass to Alexis. The Chilean teed up Giroud that flicked it first time to Iwobi. The Nigerian forward found Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on his right hand and the Englishman drilled the ball into the danger area. Up stepped Alexis to blast the ball past a hapless Heaton.

There were a couple of chances for both sides but in the end, Arsenal had enough in the tank to see out the threat of Burnley. There was also a return to action for Tomas Rosicky and the ageless Czech made some decent touches in the course of the game.

It was good to return to winning ways after a poor return of two points from a possible nine. All focus will be shifted to Tuesday’s game against Southampton.

More on that came in the coming days.

Sayonara

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From an injury standpoint, things have been a lot better at Arsenal. As it stands, it’s just Jack Wilshere and Santi Cazorla that are the long-term absentee, and we hope it stays this way. Just that at Arsenal, things aren’t always normal.

This also means that Wenger has a full squad to select from as the Gunners host Burnley in the FA Cup Fourth Round. With half an eye on Tuesday’s clash with Southampton, he will want to rest the core of his first team squad today, while doing his bit to field a competitive squad for the match day.

David Ospina hasn’t stood in between the sticks since that his horror show against Olympiakos in October and he has had some injury problems to contend with, but I expect him to play a part in today’s fixture. It has been a long while since the fans chanted ‘Ooooooooooooooooospina’ and it would be nice to hear 60,000+ fans in one voice when the Colombian goalie takes a dead ball.

In the defense, it would be nice to see Matt Debuchy in action again. I know he has been acting like a girl on her period in recent weeks but it’s high time we give Hector Bellerin a breather. Since his return from injury, Bellerin hasn’t been the same player that was awesome in every sense of the word but he has done well to pick up where he left off, and that performance against Sunderland in the FA Cup third round was out of the top drawer. On the other flank, I expect Kieran Gibbs to get the nod ahead of Nacho Monreal and he has proven himself to be a good deputy.

In the central defensive pairing, Per Mertesacker’s red card has obviously paved the way for Gabriel Paulista but I would like Calum Chambers to start alongside the  Brazilian today. This game would be very memorable for Chambers, as it remains the only game he registered his first goal for the Gunners.

In midfield, I expect Elneny to make his debut and it’s going to be interesting to see where he plays. Elneny offers a presence in the holding and box-to-box role and with Coquelin fit again, I wonder what the boss has in store for us. I expect Mikel Arteta to get a run out alongside Elneny and that would be nice. The offensive midfield role would go to Tomas Rosicky that would want to make up for lost time, as he was out on the sidelines for quite some time.

Alex Iwobi is another lad that is in need of minutes and he would want to stake a claim for a first team berth with another good performance today. Another player that is eager to impress is Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, that has had a hot and cold campaign thus far. Walcott would line the line.

There goes my predicted starting XI

Ospina; Debuchy-Chambers-Paulista-Gibbs; Elneny-Rosicky-Arteta; Iwobi-Walcott-Ox

Here’s to a good game of football

Sayonara