Burnley 0-5 Arsenal - "If Trossard keeps scoring, he has to stay in"

Hello guys, full time at Turf Moor, Burnley 0, Arsenal 5. I could get very used to this, an aggregate score of 11-0 to Arsenal over the last couple of Premier League games. Another thumping win, another clean sheet, the goals are flowing, I feel very good about things. I suppose my big headline tonight is that there are three good teams in this Premier League. We all know who they are, right? One's playing Chelsea at the moment. To be honest, I don't expect them to annihilate them, that's Man City. Liverpool got themselves a 4-1 win at Brentford earlier in the day, which really laid down a marker on Arsenal to give them some credit when it got arguably an even better result. But Brentford is a tough place to go, so that was very impressive in itself. I think every other team in this league, we've seen Newcastle drop points today, Spurs drop points today, Man United are somehow gathering points, but they're a bit of a dumpster fire of a club at the present point in time. I think every other club is almost in a different league. I think those three are exceptional. I think it's clear why they're the three favourites for the Premier League, and genuinely, any one of them could win it. Man City will always be favourites because they've been there, they've done it, because of the talent they've got, because of the players they've got, the experience, the manager, but any one of these teams could do it. And the fact is, Liverpool dipped out of that group last season. Arsenal were there last season, and they're there again. That's amazing consistency. For a club who are relatively early into this kind of period of being back there at the top, who've got quite a young team, to be consistently competing season on season, two consecutive seasons now, is impressive. And I think we have the potential to do that over the next three to five years. We really do, because some of these players are just getting better and better. We've got a manager who should be getting better and better given his age, given the point in his development. And who knows where Liverpool will be when Jürgen Klopp goes? Who knows how much longer Pep Guardiola will be at Manchester City? There's a real opportunity for Arsenal, not just this season, but in the seasons to come, and I'm really excited about it. This performance today was excellent. Really, really good. Burnley aren't great, let's be clear. I think they were, maybe, as bad, if not worse, than West Ham were at the weekend. Some of the defending was absolutely schoolboy. I mean, switching off on a throw-in, forgetting the offside law, really, really poor. Vincent Kompany would be deeply worried. They look like a team who's on their way down. But you've got to take advantage. And one thing I really liked about Arsenal today is the times they scored, right early on. Immediately put themselves on the front foot, put themselves in control of the game. Those early goals are so crucial. Then, right before half-time, with the penalty, widening the gap, putting it probably beyond Burnley's reach. Then, immediately after the break, Kompany changes it at half-time. I think he brought on a fifth midfielder, went for a more solid shape. It doesn't matter. Pekka Arisaka thrashes one into the roof of the net. It's 3-0. It's game over. It really was game over then, and obviously there was a serious injury as well, which meant there was basically a 10-minute break in the game. Took any remaining life out of the crowd. I don't think there would have been much anyway. And just ended it as a contest. But credit to Arsenal. They smelt blood. Pekka Arisaka spoke about smelling blood last week at West Ham. They smelt blood again here. They smelt an opportunity to improve that goal difference. Another couple of goals, Trossard and Havertz. And I think we've got the best goal difference in the league right now until City inevitably batter Chelsea. I think we've added 19 goals, plus 19, to our goal difference since Christmas. It's the first time in the club's history we've won the first league games of a calendar year. You could not ask for a better start to 2024 than this. And it gets interesting now because we've got the Champions League. We've got Porto in midweek. I should be there, fingers crossed, all being well. I've actually not been too well this week. I was supposed to be at Burnley today. But thanks to Jordan Campbell of The Athletic, who has covered for me, working a double shift effectively. So I've got to give him a big shout out. But I'm hoping that I'll be fit past the fitness test for Porto in midweek. It's so fascinating, isn't it? I spoke about those three teams in the Premier League and how any one of them could win it. And when you look at the Champions League, I think if Liverpool were in the Champions League, you'd say they'd be among the favourites as well. You'd say Man City are the clear favourites. But when you're looking at sides that could challenge them, I was watching the overlap the other day with Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher and the rest of them. I think it was maybe Roy Keane. I can't remember who was on, if it was Ian Wright or Jill Scott. But they were talking about contenders to win the Champions League. And everybody said, well, if anyone could stop City, it might be Arsenal. And it's funny, you know, I almost give Arsenal a better chance in Europe than I do in the Premier League because in the Premier League, they can win all their games, but they're still relying on City and Liverpool slipping up. When you look at the Champions League, I think it's just City that Arsenal really need to fear and really need to worry about. And there's a chance via the draw that you could avoid them. So I think Arsenal got a fantastic chance in the Champions League. This all feels like we're setting up a massive jinx for them to go and lose in Portugal in midweek. But they've got no excuses, really. They should be pushing far into that competition. Coming back to today, opening goal came from Martin Odegaard. Let's touch on a few players. Brilliant technical execution. I mean, he scored a free kick at this ground last season. This was just as beautiful, really. The touch to kill it, the finish expertly guided into the bottom corner. Really, really excellent stuff from Odegaard, who I thought was terrific all day long. Get a second, another sack of penalty. Trossard won it. Listen, I really like some of that combination play between Havertz and Trossard. They seem to have a really good understanding, that kind of big man, little man, strike partnership. And that played into how we won the penalty. I think Havertz's positional intelligence in terms of how he's playing that left eight role is so interesting. You know, the way he runs beyond Trossard, forms a target, is an outlet for long balls. Trossard can drop deep, but he does run in behind as well. He threatened him behind earlier in the game and was flagged offside. Trafford made a good save in that instance. Here, he wins the penalty. I'll come on to Trossard. I think he's been excellent. So that's 2-0. As I say, we kill it after halftime. And Bukai Saka, I said when he scored against West Ham, I can't remember if it was on here or if it was on the arse cast, he can do that more. Cut inside, blast it. Well, this time he went outside, blast it. I love that finish that he's got in his locker. He looks like a player absolutely brimming with confidence. And so he should be with the numbers. He's producing four goals in the last couple of games. Yeah, devastating stuff. And he can be a devastating player for this team. So yeah, I love that goal. And then Trossard gets his goal. And what I liked about it, he had a couple of chances just before the goal and you could see how hungry he was to get that goal. I think he knows that if he keeps scoring, they can't take him out of this team. And I think that's right. I think at the moment he's doing everything you want from a forward. Gabriel Jesus does everything you want from a forward, but he doesn't necessarily get the goals. Trossard's getting the goals. And as long as he keeps scoring, I think it's going to be very difficult for Jesus to get him out of this starting XI. I'm not saying that's it. It's over for Jesus. Trossard's now the number nine. I'm just saying on form, the way we're playing, the flow, the interplay and that goal scoring instinct that he's demonstrating, I don't think you can take him out. I'm interested to see what you guys think. Let me know in the comments below. Havertz gets his goal as well. Nice bit of play, maybe a bit of luck with the nutmeg, but composed finish off his right foot. Probably his nicest goal actually in an Arsenal shirt, I would say, unless I'm forgetting one. They've been quite scrappy by and large, but this one, he took it pretty confidently. And I like that. As I say, I like that combination between Trossard and Havertz. I think it's got a lot of potential. I think it has a lot of utility. I think it gives us a bit of a Swiss army knife approach in those central attacking areas. There's a little bit of everything there. It's the big man, little man strike partnership. And there's a reason it worked for so many decades. We're seeing a little bit in a kind of evolved style with this Arsenal team. So there you go. 5-0. We had cameos for the likes of Cedric, Reece Nelson, Eddie Nketiah. Jorginho got on. We used the squad. Got to give a shout out to the guys at the back as well, who saw out the clean sheet. David Rye made one impressive intervention, I thought, in the first half, diverting a ball away from goal. Saliba and Gabriel, solid as ever. Jacob Kivio looking much, much more comfortable in a kind of conventional left-back role. I don't want to go overboard, because I do think that what we're asking of him at this point in time is not hugely complicated. But for me, he looks much more capable in that kind of simplified role. So yeah, a really, really good day. Still so many players to come back. You think of Jesus, we've talked about Zinchenko, Thomas Partey. Really exciting. Really exciting. And we're getting closer and closer to the crunch. Getting towards the end of Feb now. It's a short month. Then we're in March. Then people start talking about run-ins. And timing is everything. When do you peak? When are you strongest? When are you fittest? And I like the timing from Arsenal today in terms of when they got their goals. I don't know. Let's hope that knack for timing can continue until the end of the season. I'm kneeling on the floor in my son's bedroom, by the way. What used to be my office is now my son's bedroom. This is what I've had to resort to these days in order to get a kind of decent angle and backdrop. Tough times. Listen, thanks for watching as ever. If you haven't already, subscribe. It really, really helps. All your merch needs at lesbydis.com. But yeah, great one, guys. Great one. I'm really excited about Portugal in the week. Hopefully see some of you out there. All right. Take care and I'll speak to you soon. Bye-bye.