Arsenal predicted line-up vs. Burnley: two big changes made with £30m midfielder set to miss out

Mikel Arteta's Arsenal welcome Burnley to the Emirates on Saturday for a 3pm kick-off in a game which could see the Gunners go level on points with league leader Manchester City - at least until the champions play Chelsea on Sunday.

Arsenal bounced back well from their controversial defeat to Newcastle United last weekend with a comfortable 2-0 win over Europa League champions Sevilla on Wednesday, but that victory came at a cost, with Bukayo Saka limping off once again with an apparent muscle injury. They may also be without the services of the influential Martin Ødegaard, with updates awaited on his condition after he missed three of the last four matches with a hip problem.

Visitors Burnley come into the game on a five-match losing streak and haven't scored in either of their last two games, so Arsenal will hope that any absences won't be too keenly felt, especially given that the Clarets have only ever beaten the Gunners once in the Premier League era - at the Emirates back in 2020.

We've pulled together all the latest injury updates and team news ahead of Saturday's game below, and predicted the starting XI that Arteta will put out as Arsenal look to get their title challenge back on track.

Goalkeeper & Defence

While Arteta may be grappling with injuries in other areas of the field, the Gunners are pretty close to a clean bill of health in defence, with long-term absentee Jurriën Timber the only recognised defender expected to miss out this weekend - but Thomas Partey, who played at right-back at the start of the season before injury issue struck, will now be out until the new year after undergoing an unspecified procedure to deal with a muscle injury, and his participation in Ghana's Africa Cup of Nations campaign is now in doubt as well.

In goal, there is currently no sign of a recall for Aaron Ramsdale despite Arteta's promise to rotate his two goalkeepers and the fact that David Raya's performances have been under the microscope following high-profile errors against Chelsea and Newcastle. All signs point to the Spaniard starting once more on Saturday.

Midfield

The good news is that the injury which saw Saka hobble off five minutes from the end of the game against Sevilla is believed to be minor, and press reports suggest that the England winger should be fit to play at least some part against the Clarets, although Arteta has not yet commented himself. Saka's inclusion in Gareth Southgate's England squad suggests that the issue isn't seen as too severe - although Saka did withdraw from the squad for the last international break.

The bad news is that Norwegian midfielder Ødegaard will almost certainly miss out once more as he handles a hip issue, despite the fact that he has been called up to his national squad for their remaining European Championship qualifiers. Arsenal are reportedly hopeful that Ødegaard will put out of international duty, and he is unlikely to be involved against Burnley. Emile Smith Rowe will also be unavailable thanks to a knee injury, meaning that either Jorginho or Fábio Vieira is likely to start in midfield.

Forwards

Eddie Nketiah missed Arsenal's match against Sevilla with an ankle problem, with Arteta saying ahead of the Sevilla game that the striker, who scored a hat-trick against Sheffield United a fortnight ago, was "racing against the clock" to be fit. With first-choice forward Gabriel Jesus expected to be out until December with a hamstring injury, Arteta will certainly hope that it's a race Nketiah wins. If he doesn't, Leandro Trossard will most likely start up front once again.

Full predicted line-up vs. Burnley

Raya; Zinchenko, Gabriel, Saliba, White; Rice, Havertz, Vieira; Martinelli, Trossard, Saka.