I suppose the quandary for Arsene is how many of his fresher players can he bring in without disrupting the momentum of his troops. For confidence and self belief reasons

The fixture list has been rather unkind to Arsenal supporters not because of the quality of the opposition that Arsenal face this evening but because of the game takes place only three days after a confidence boosting victory at Anfield against one of our big rivals. Personally I would have rather we had the rest of the week to replay Arshavin’s strike off the face of Pepe Reina’s post.

More importantly the game being played so soon afterwards means that Arsene will have to walk around the treatment tables finding players who are less injured than others. The Arsenal squad are currently feeling somewhat bruised and battered after increasing the gears in the second half on Sunday. The squad are already short on fit and fresh bodies so news that Denilson and Armand Traore are not fit enough to take part comes as a bitter blow to Arsene, especially the latter as Abou Diaby’s return to first team duties will have lessened the blow for Arsene Wenger. Traore’s pulled hamstring now means that three first team left backs are all out at the same time. I would be more than surprised if someone could point out another team in the league who have had the same amount of injuries in that position.

Mikel Silvestre seems to be the obvious choice but it was only recently that Wenger said that his only options would be Traore and Eboue because Silvestre hasn’t played in that position for a long while. Coincidentally Emmanuel Eboue returns to the squad and I would imagine he would be involved in the game in some capacity.

Burnley are a side that I like very much, Owen Coyle has given them a freedom to express themselves and they do so in the right manor. A side built on passing and movement and principles. Even though they have been abysmal away from home they have stuck to their football and I admire that. I have stuck them under my arm this season and claimed them as my second team.

Burnley have a fantastic record at home this season, only losing once to Wigan. They have put Manchester United, Everton and Sunderland to the sword at Turf Moor and will be hoping to add Arsenal to that list. The only worry I have about this fixture is the lack of days to recover for our players. Usually when we play a Premier League game on the weekend then a Champions League game in midweek, we are normally able to cope. This time round we are missing many players who would have been involved in recent weeks therefore allowing others to take a breather. This is not the case with our squad right now.

I suppose the quandary for Arsene is how many of his fresher players can he bring in without disrupting the momentum of his troops. For confidence and self belief reasons he will want to start with as many as possible from Anfield but many of those are carrying knocks.

Carlos Vela, Emmanuel Eboue, Eduardo, Abou Diaby and Aaron Ramsey all did not start on Sunday and will want to get a a go from the off. Bloggers can only speculate on who could be rested but only one man knows the physical condition of his players and that is Arsene Wenger.

Mean Lean’s Predicted Line Up

Three back to back games could prove to be too many for Theo Walcott just after injury so I expect Eboue to take his place to add defensive balance as well as direct running. Diaby will replace Denilson and I suspect that Eduardo could be brought back into the side.

Mean Lean’s Match Prediction

Hopefully with the confidence of the defeat of Liverpool still running through their veins, the players can score an early goal which will allow the team to gain control of the match. Arsenal to have too much for a busy Burnley side.

The Gunners need to start the game as they did the second half on Sunday, no room for complacency.