Arsenal predicted line-up vs. Burnley: Nine changes from midweek as Saliba & Martinelli face fitness battlesplaceholder image
Arsenal predicted line-up vs. Burnley: Nine changes from midweek as Saliba & Martinelli face fitness battles | Arsenal FC via Getty Images
The latest Arsenal team news ahead of the Premier League game against Burnley - with injury updates on William Saliba and Gabriel Martinelli.
Arsenal’s midweek win over Brighton & Hove Albion made them the first team in Premier League history to win six matches in the same month without conceding a single goal – and they’ll hope to extend that record when they travel to Turf Moor in the Premier League this Saturday.
The bad news for Mikel Arteta is that he may have to make do without several key players, with injury concerns hanging over the heads of William Saliba and Gabriel Martinelli heading into the game against Burnley. In total, Arsenal may be missing as many as six first-team players for this weekend’s match.
We’ve got all of the latest Arsenal injury news and selection updates below, along with our prediction for Arteta’s starting line-up for Saturday’s game.
Will William Saliba & Gabriel Martinelli be fit for Arsenal?
Both centre-half Saliba and winger Martinelli picked up injuries in the recent 1-0 win over Crystal Palace with Saliba replaced by Cristhian Mosquera at half-time while Martinelli was seen limping awkwardly from the field at the end of the match. As a result, both players were ruled out of the EFL Cup win over Brighton and the pair may well be unavailable against Burnley, too.
The exact nature of both players’ injuries has not been disclosed, but Saliba is touch-and-go for the weekend, according to Arteta, who said that he will “wait and see” whether the Frenchman is fit to play. It’s worse news for Martinelli, with the winger confirmed to be out for this match. Arteta wouldn’t give a return date, simply saying that “this game comes too early for him.”
The good news is that two other players who sustained knocks during the Palace game, Riccardo Calafiori and Declan Rice, were fit to face Brighton and should be available once again this weekend. Both players were taken off during last weekend’s win, but the substitutions proved to be purely precautionary.
When will Martin Ødegaard & Kai Havertz return?
Four players will certainly miss out this weekend – including club captain Martin Ødegaard, who is still recovering from a knee injury. Arteta has suggested that the Norwegian “could be” back after the November international break and stated that he remained a matter of “weeks” away during his Friday press conference.
There’s some optimism that Kai Havertz could be working to a similar timetable after his own knee injury. Arteta told the media earlier in October that the German was “really pushing it” to be back in November, and he too is in the “weeks” bracket. Winger Noni Madueke, another knee injury victim, is also expected back at the end of November.
Striker Gabriel Jesus, meanwhile, continues the long process of recovering from a ruptured ACL and isn’t expected back until the very end of December at the earliest. A 2026 return is believed to be more probable.
Full Arsenal predicted XI vs. Burnley: Raya; Calafiori, Mosquera, Gabriel, Timber; Rice, Zubimendi, Eze; Trossard, Saka, Gyökeres.
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