Preview: Arsenal v. Burnley [UPDATED]

Arsenal drew at Turf Moor in December; Burnley equalized on a first half penalty, conceded here by Vermaelen. Pic via Guardian.

Emirates Stadium, London

Saturday, March 6

1500 GMT, 10:00 am EST

• Referee: Chris Foy
  
• This Match, Last Time: Arsenal 1 - 0 Burnley (December 20, 1975)
• All-Time in All Competitions: 43 Arsenal wins, 33 Burnley wins, 21 draws
  
• Arsenal's Recent Form: D-L-L-W-W-W
• Burnley's Recent Form: L-L-W-L-L-L
  

Predicted Line-Up
guesses italicized

Almunia
Sagna - Silvestre - Vermaelen - Clichy
Fabregas - Denilson - Diaby
Nasri - Bendtner - Eduardo

Subs from: Fabianski, Traore, Eboue, Rosicky, Walcott, Merida, Arshavin
Out: Vela (international duty/jet lag), Campbell (groin), Gallas (calf), Ramsey (leg), Gibbs (foot), Van Persie (ankle), Djourou (knee)
Suspended: Song (first of two, accumulation)

• Arsenal can go top of the league with a win, but it's highly unlikely. To do so, Arsenal must win by at least four goals to beat Chelsea on goals scored, and Manchester United would have to lose at Wolves. Arsenal can still go top with a United draw, but it would then have to be a seven goal win. And bear in mind, Chelsea will have a game in hand after this weekend.
• The Arsenal midfield situation looked like it was getting exceedingly dire thanks to Ramsey's horror injury and Song's 10 yellow card suspension. Thankfully, Andrei Arshavin and Denilson are both likely to return from injuries. Denilson probably has to start with a limited midfield; I think Arshavin will feature off the bench, but I'd love to be wrong on that.
• Abou Diaby passed a fitness test Friday and will return to the side, after his mysterious knee injury nobody remembers him picking up at Porto.
• Sol Campbell did not pass his fitness test and will not feature in the squad with a groin injury, with William Gallas still out, Mikael Silvestre will start.
• Carlos Vela will not return from international duty with Mexico in time to feature. Mexico played New Zealand at the Rose Bowl in California late Wednesday night (early Thursday in England). Vela scored for Mexico in a 2-0 win.
• Speaking of scoring in international duty, Nicklas Bendtner scored for Denmark, but they lost surprisingly to Austria 2-1.
• Also, I like to think that all of England now understands the frustration that is Theo Walcott.

• Burnley has insisted that they will play a physical match against Arsenal this week. Hmmm, where have we heard that before?
• Burnley has picked up 22 of a possible 39 points at home this season. They have picked up 1 of a possible 42 points away from home, thanks to a 3-3 draw at Manchester City.
• Before this season, Burnley's last year in the top flight was 1975/1976.
• Since 1975, Arsenal has won all three cup ties they've played against the Clarets: two FA Cup ties and one League Cup tie. All three ties were over the past two seasons.
• Burnley's last win over the Gunners in North London was at Highbury, 2-1, on September 7, 1974.
• Alan Wiley was originally listed as referee, but it's now listed as Chris Foy. I'm just glad Guardian was as duped as I.

Other Premier League Matches This Weekend:

Saturday: West Ham United v. Bolton Wanderers; Boleyn Ground at Upton Park, London
Saturday: Wolverhampton Wanderers v. Manchester United; Molineux, Wolverhampton
Sunday: Everton v. Hull City; Goodison Park, Liverpool
Monday: Wigan Athletic v. Liverpool; DW Stadium, Wigan
FA Cup Saturday: Portsmouth v. Birmingham City; Fratton Park, Portsmouth
FA Cup Saturday: Fulham v. Tottenham Hotspur; Craven Cottage, London
FA Cup Sunday: Reading v. Aston Villa; Madejski Stadium, Reading
FA Cup Sunday: Chelsea v. Stoke City; Stamford Bridge, London
Out of Action: Manchester City, Blackburn Rovers, and Sunderland