Win. Clean sheet. Repeat

November 1st, 2025

Turf Moore, Burnley

A poppy pinned to every chest. Arsenal in white, Burnley in claret. Black armbands, six wreaths laid on the turf, the flag lowered. The trumpet sang, and for a moment, silence reigned. Then, a roar—English remembrance breaking into Premier League noise.

Arsenal arrived and Turf Moor met them with the usual hostility. Burnley pressed high, physical, uncompromising. Kyle Walker, the former City man marshalling a young side with old habits. His early duel with Trossard—clean, brutal, efficient—set the tone.

Arsenal’s rhythm began on the left flank: Trossard, Calafiori, Gyökeres, and Rice forming a fluid triangle of menace. Burnley defended deep, unwilling to open the game. But they cracked early. Minute 13: another set piece. Declan Rice’s delivery arced to the far post, Gabriel Magalhães cushioned the volley, and Viktor Gyökeres stabbed home from a yard out. It was Arsenal’s twelfth goal from a set piece this season—three in three games for Gyökeres. Magalhães, defender and occasional talisman, reached 30 goal contributions for the club—remarkable for a man whose clean-sheet record already borders on legend.

Arsenal smelled blood. Trossard found Calafiori in space; Dubravka saved. Saka, clean through, fired straight at the keeper—a strange miss from so sure a foot. Frustration rippled through the hosts: Walker fading, Fleming lashing.

Then came chaos. Rice stole possession from Fleming, fed Zubimendi, who slipped it to Eze. A few deft passes later, Gyökeres squared for Trossard; the shot beat Dubravka but was cleared off the line by a desperate Burnley defence. Moments later, the breakaway: Saka’s flicked clearance, Gyökeres’s diagonal, Trossard’s delivery, and Declan Rice thundering home the header. He dropped to his knees, pointing skyward.

The second half was slower, colder. Arteta withdrew Gyökeres for Merino; Trossard, marking his 100th Premier League appearance, took the armband’s spirit and the leadership. Arsenal managed the game, not chased it. Saka stretched the line, Timber blazed over, Nwaneri and Nørgaard came close. Burnley’s final gasp—a Marcus Edwards free-kick off the post—was their only real threat. Raya registered his fourth consecutive match without a save required.

Gyökeres was razor-sharp in the first 45 minutes, linking play with power and poise. But Declan Rice commanded: 94 touches, 11.4 kilometres covered, nine recoveries, five tackles, three interceptions, nine duels won. 

Nine straight wins in all competitions, one goal conceded, seven points clear at the summit.

Burnley 0 – 2 Arsenal

(V. Gyokeres ‘14, D. Rice ‘35)