Arsenal couldn’t replicate their form of recent weeks but somehow grabbed a last-minute winner against Burnley as we head into the international break pondering familiar problems.

With Lucas missing from the squad with a slight knee problem, it didn’t take long for rumours to emerge that he had been dropped.

He hasn’t. What would prompt Arsenal to drop their only fit forward outside the starting XI?

A deflected shot almost gave Arsenal the lead after just four minutes as they found their rhythm early on, pinging it around Burnley with confidence. The pace was noticeably less intense than in the last two games, against Basel and Chelsea, but that’s no real surprise – you can’t play at that pace all game, every game.

Trying to play through the middle, Arsenal found it tough to break through the Burnley defence, and it was no surprise that their best chances were coming when they attacked from wide positions. It’s just a pity they didn’t realise this and kept persisting through the centre where they were greeted by a wall of Claret that stopped everything the Gunners tried.

BURNLEY, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 02: Mesut Ozil of Arsenal in action during the Premier League match between Burnley and Arsenal at Turf Moor on October 2, 2016 in Burnley, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
BURNLEY, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 02: Mesut Ozil of Arsenal in action during the Premier League match between Burnley and Arsenal at Turf Moor on October 2, 2016 in Burnley, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

Burnley were happy to give up possession, a tactic Arsenal have struggled against before and this was no different. They were up against a side that wasn’t going to be as obliging in leaving them loads of space, and they struggled.

Again.

As the first half wore on, Arsenal looked more and more laboured with some fans suggesting that fatigue was to blame. I understand that argument, but I simply won’t accept it at the start of October with the best squad in years at the club.

It wasn’t fatigue, it was the same problems that have plagued Arsenal for the past five years or more.

How do we break down two banks of four? Or a back six which Burnley were deploying at times?

With four minutes on the clock in the second half, Arsenal almost broke the deadlock through Alexis, who forced the Burnley keeper into a save and matched Arsenal’s total for shots on target in the first half. Arsenal seemed slightly quicker, but were still trying to chip away at the central wall of Claret rather than just going around it.

But for Petr Cech, Burnley could have grabbed the lead, and we all know how that ends so it was handy that Cech was alert when the rest of his defence seemed half asleep.

It should have been a wakeup call, but was it?

Not really.

Not moving the ball quickly enough, Arsenal were stuck trying to get through the middle, knowing they couldn’t just lump it in as they had no target men in the side or on the bench.

Pace is vital against this sort of defence, and Arsenal were struggling as Wenger reached for his subs with the usual 70 on the clock. Elneny replaced Xhaka while the Ox came on for Iwobi.

Alexis just missed the post with a sumptuous volley after Theo had shot (or crossed) to no-one and we won a succession of corners. It felt like it would be one of those days, a feeling reinforced when Burnley up the other end and hit the bar.

Somehow, with the last kick of the game, Arsenal grabbed all the points through the Ox and Kos’s hand leaving writers everywhere doing a quick rewrite of headlines and opening paragraphs.

In the end it was a tale as familiar as Arsene Wenger on the touchline.

A stubborn, solid and tight defence that was met with a hammer made of wet noodles.

Less a new dawn at Arsenal than a new season with the same struggles.

Sigh.