Arsenal returned to winning ways with victory over Burnley in the early Saturday kick-off, in a fiery and physical encounter that left Unai Emery with yet another defensive injury.

Arsenal made a number of changes after their midweek clash with Spurs, and it seemed to work out pretty nicely as they took and held a rare first-half lead. However, Nacho Monreal was forced off with an injury in the opening period, which very much changed the dynamic of the game.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang doubled Arsenal’s lead quickly after the break, but Burnley pulled one back to set up an anxious final half hour. Eventually, Alex Iwobi killed the game with a goal in stoppage time. Overall, a hard-earned three points.

Let’s have a look at our individual player ratings for the game.

2Midfield

Matteo Guendouzi 6.5

Guendouzi had a mixed game, with a lot of good work in possession balanced against a few defensive positioning errors and getting dispossessed a couple of times. He was a little more creative than fellow midfielders Elneny and Torreira after Xhaka’s position change though.

Granit Xhaka 6.5

Xhaka started the game excellently, and it was great to have him back in midfield. After that, he was forced back in the back-three, and he wasn’t so impressive from then on. His passing remained very good in general, with a couple of mistakes, but he was caught out once or twice defensively. You can hardly blame him, as this isn’t his position.

Mohamed Elneny 5.5

This wasn’t an impressive return to Premier League action for Elneny. His passing was accurate, but uninspiring to say the least. Worse was the way he was caught on the ball so easily in two very dangerous positions before he was subbed off for Lucas Torreira.

He did make a few tackles, but that masked the fact he didn’t provide effective defensive cover. Burnley’s runners from midfield found it all too easy to pick the ball up.

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