Preview: Arsenal vs Burnley - prediction, team news, lineups

Closing out their 2025-26 Emirates adventure with one of the friendliest fixtures on the calendar, Premier League leaders Arsenal host already-relegated Burnley on Monday night - potentially their last night as non-champions.

Victory for Mikel Arteta's side could prove to be a title-clinching one if Bournemouth do them a favour 24 hours later, while their visitors are simply aiming to avoid the ignominy of a 20th-placed finish.

Match preview

"After review, West Ham number 19 commits a foul on the goalkeeper. Final decision is direct free kick." Words that may go down in history for Arsenal Football Club.

Not a single soul would have envied on-field referee Chris Kavanagh and VAR official Darren England at the London Stadium last weekend, when with just moments remaining in West Ham United vs. Arsenal, the pair were responsible for a decision with seismic impacts on the Premier League title race and fight for survival.

In the end, that fateful call went Arsenal's way, as Irons attacker Pablo was deemed to have fouled David Raya - who was also having his shirt pulled by Jean-Clair Todibo to boot - during an almighty corner scramble, and Callum Wilson's last-gasp equaliser was no more.

Arsenal supporters celebrated Kavanagh's announcement almost as loudly as they had cheered Leandro Trossard's strike not long before, as the Gunners passed the sternest test left of their Premier League title credentials, before this home visit of Burnley and a final-day encounter with a Conference League-focused Crystal Palace.

Manchester City's dominant victory over the Eagles at least kept the gap at the top of the Premier League table to just two points, but if Arteta's men overcome the Clarets and Pep Guardiola's men draw or lose to Bournemouth on Tuesday night, Arsenal's agonising 22-year wait for another top-flight crown will officially be over.

Fears of the dreaded bottle emerged when Arsenal won just one of six fixtures between March 22 and April 19, but the hosts have since earned four victories from their last five, including each of their last three with zero goals conceded.

Furthermore, when facing a team already relegated from the Premier League, Arsenal have won 10 of 10 such matches since 1992 - the best 100% record of its kind in the competition.

Burnley would therefore set a new unique Premier League record if they can pull off the shock of all shocks in North London, but the form book unsurprisingly makes for grim reading for the Championship-bound Clarets.

Only basement boys Wolves (5) have collected fewer points than Burnley's nine on the road this term, but Monday's visitors are by far and away the worst defensive team away from home in the Premier League, conceding 45 goals in their 18 trips thus far.

It is therefore not a revelation to learn that Burnley have not kept a single clean sheet on the road all season, but Mike Jackson's men at least snapped a five-game losing sequence with a respectable 2-2 draw at home to Aston Villa last weekend, leaving them three points above 20th-placed Wolves.

The Clarets coincidentally take on the Old Gold in the final gameweek of the campaign, in what could be a straight shootout to avoid finishing bottom of the pile, although Burnley will be assured of a 19th-placed ranking if they avoid defeat at the Emirates and Wolves lose to Fulham on Sunday.

That scenario is far-fetched, though, as Arsenal have suffered just one defeat in their last 19 top-flight games against Burnley, who have never even scored more than one goal in a Premier League match against the title favourites.

Arsenal Premier League form:

Arsenal form (all competitions):

Burnley Premier League form:

Team News

Arsenal's critical victory over West Ham came at quite the cost defensively, as the luckless Ben White suffered a season-ending knee injury that could also scupper his World Cup chances, while Riccardo Calafiori was withdrawn at half time with an unspecified issue.

Arteta is optimistic that Calafiori has avoided a major problem, but the Italy international is unlikely to be risked on Monday, while Jurrien Timber (groin) and Mikel Merino (foot) are both out of contention.

After the brief Declan Rice right-back experiment failed at the London Stadium, Arteta should deploy Cristhian Mosquera in place of White, while Martin Odegaard is eyeing Eberechi Eze's spot after setting up Trossard's winner during a stellar cameo last weekend.

Burnley did not come out of gameweek 36 unscathed either, as Hannibal Mejbri came off in the 69th minute due to an unexplained injury, but he has "recovered well" according to Jackson and might be involved on Monday.

Experienced right-back Connor Roberts is also nearing a senior comeback following over a year out with an Achilles injury, having recently competed for the Under-21s, but Jordan Beyer (hamstring) and Josh Cullen (knee) are out.

Scorer of Burnley's second in their stalemate with Villa, Zian Flemming now boasts 10 goals for the season in the Premier League, becoming just the fifth Clarets player to hit double figures in one campaign in the competition after Chris Wood, Ashley Barnes, Sam Vokes and Danny Ings.

Arsenal possible starting lineup:

Raya; Mosquera, Saliba, Gabriel, Hincapie; Rice, Lewis-Skelly; Saka, Odegaard, Trossard; Gyokeres

Burnley possible starting lineup:

Dubravka; Walker, Tuanzebe, Esteve, Pires; Ugochukwu, Florentino; Tchaouna, Hannibal, Anthony; Flemming

We say: Arsenal 3-0 Burnley

Burnley boss Jackson could opt for a more defensive setup to try to frustrate Arsenal, but that may still prove futile for a team that have conceded in every away game in 2025-26.

Tackling a Gunners side boasting 39 wins from their last 44 matches against newly-promoted teams - going unbeaten in all of them - Burnley should put up little resistance as the Gunners move one step closer to glory.

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