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Story So Far
Anyone who thought this year's title race was a two-horse race was forced into a rethink last weekend after Arsenal's 2-1 win at Anfield moved them to within striking distance of Manchester United and leaders Chelsea.
Despite being 3rd in the table and still harbouring realistic ambitions of winning a fourth Premier League title, this season has not been without its significant set-backs for Arsenal, domestically at least.
Three major defeats highlight why their detractors don't think they can stand the pace with United and Chelsea until May.
Outclassed several weeks ago in a 0-3 home defeat to Chelsea, second best to Manchester City en route to a 4-2 drubbing in September and beaten 2-1 at Old Trafford in August.
Add those three defeats to a 1-0 loss up at Sunderland, on a day when Arsène Wenger accused some of his players of 'choking', and a 2-2 draw at West Ham and in all truth the Gunners can consider themselves fortunate to still be in touch with the leaders having dropped so many points so far this season.
On the European stage it has been much calmer sailing. Drawn in a comfortable group alongside AZ Alkmaar, Standard Liege and Olympiakos, they progressed with 13 points from a possible 18. Their only defeat came in the final group game in Greece, where they fielded the youngest ever XI to begin a Champions League game.
5 - Thomas Vermaelen Eyebrows were raised when Arsène Wenger spent £10million on a relatively unknown central defender who stands less than 6ft tall, but it has not taken long for the Belgian stopper to silence any doubters.
A string of commanding performances have earned him rave reviews from the media and he has also proven to be a potent goal threat. Four times Vermaelen has found the net this season, including two against Wigan.
The other telling statistic about Vermaelen is that in 24 matches in all competitions this season he has only picked up one yellow card.
23 - Andrey Arshavin Arshavin is already paying back the £15million paid for him with a string of influential performances and vital goals.
Known affectionately as 'Meerkat' the diminutive Russian joined in February this year after a protracted chase for the then Zenit man.
After finding his feet in the last half of the 08/09 season he is now proving to be one of the Premier League's outstanding players.
In 23 league starts since he joined Arsenal he has found the net on 12 occasions.
17 - Alex Song Signed for just £1million in 2006 Song has already notched up 100 senior appearances for the Gunners, despite being only 22.
Able to play in either central defence or the middle of midfield, Song is a powerful presence in the centre of the park and also has an abundance of natural ability, comparisons with the great Patrick Viera are not far wide of the mark.
An international team-mate of our own Andre Bikey with Cameroon, Song is certain to be heading to South Africa in the summer.
Last Five Games
Liverpool 1-2 Arsenal
Olympiakos 1-0 Arsenal
Arsenal 2-0 Stoke
Man City 3-0 Arsenal
Arsenal 0-3 Chelsea
Click HERE to see all Arsenal's results this season
Last Time We Met
After knocking the Gunners out of the Carling Cup on an unforgettable night at Turf Moor three months earlier Arsène Wenger's men had their revenge in North London to send us out of the FA Cup at the Fifth Round.
Goals from Carlos Vela, a sublime effort from Eduardo and one from Emmanuelle Eboue were enough for a comfortable 3-0 win.
The last time we met in the league at Burnley was on the opening day of the 1975/76 season. Little did we know it would end in relegation and on that opening day we shared the points with a drab 0-0 draw.
The team that day was: Alan Stevenson, Mick Docherty, Keith Newton, Peter Noble (Brian Flynn), Colin Waldron, Jim Thomson, Willie Morgan, Ray Hankin, Mike Summerbee, Doug Collins, Leighton James.
Previous 20 Seasons | |||||
Season | Div | Ven | Result | Att | Scorers |
2007/08 | FA | h | 0-2 | 16,709 | . |
2008/09 | LC | h | 2-0 | 19,045 | McDonald(2) |
| . | FA | a | 0-3 | 57,454 | . |