Arsenal team news: Gunners face defensive crisis with five stars ruled out

Unai Emery is set to be without Hector Bellerin, Rob Holding, Shkodran Mustafi and Konstantinos Mavropanos.

Meanwhile, Sead Kolasinac is set to be evaluated on game-day – although at this stage is deemed unlikely.

That will mean Granit Xhaka will be forced to continue his less-than-impressive run as part of a back-three.

Laurent Koscielny will likely continue his rehabilitation alongside Sokratis Papastathopoulos.

Stephan Lichtsteiner and Nacho Monreal are the only natural players in the more advanced wing-back positions, with Ainsley Maitland-Niles another option.


Further up the pitch, Lucas Torreira and Matteo Guendouzi are tipped to keep Mesut Ozil and Aaron Ramsey out of the starting XI.

Alexandre Lacazette could rekindle his partnership with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – with Alex Iwobi floating between midfield and attack.

Emile Smith-Rowe and Danny Welbeck are long-term absentees, while Henrikh Mkhitaryan is a doubt with an ankle knock.

The Gunners go into the game with Burnley sitting fifth in the league, 11 points adrift of league-leading Liverpool.

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