Arsenal dismantle Burnley to continue incredible form and underline title credentials again

Martin Odegaard celebrates his goal against Burnley.

Man of the match the last time Arsenal went to Turf Moor, Martin Odegaard again shone against Burnley as the Gunners’ relentless form continued on Saturday.

Arsenal have come so far since their last visit to Turf Moor but there was one obvious similarity: the influence of Martin Odegaard.

After an extremely poor start to the 2021/22 campaign, Arsenal got up and running with 1-0 September wins at home to Norwich City and away to Burnley. The former result was more tense than anything and the Gunners had to grind the latter out, winning thanks to a moment of magic from Odegaard, who banged in a free-kick after 30 minutes.

Back then, Arsenal’s ceiling with fourth in the Premier League, which a lot of people thought was a stretch. The following season a top-four finish felt like the minimum requirement, and the Gunners ended up coming very close to winning the title. After their disappointing capitulation thanks to the pressure of challenging Manchester City, another tilt was this season’s aim.

It felt like their hopes of winning the Premier League were fading away after back-to-back December defeats at the hands of London rivals West Ham and Fulham, but Mikel Arteta’s men have been relentless in 2024, winning their opening five league games of a calendar year for the first time in their history.

The winter break was perfectly timed for Arteta and his players, who came back from their warm-weather training camp in Dubai rejuvenated and ready for the second half of the season.

A 5-0 win at home to Crystal Palace was backed up by a 2-1 victory at Nottingham Forest that ought to have been a lot more comfortable, a superb 3-1 win against title rivals Liverpool, a ridiculous 6-0 victory at West Ham, and now a 5-0 drubbing of Burnley at Turf Moor.

Anything less than a comfortable triumph against a woeful Clarets side would have been a big disappointment for Arsenal, but you can never be too sure with the Gunners. Confidence is something that fanbase does not have in abundance.

Eleven goals in consecutive Premier League away matches is pretty outrageous and the best Arsenal player in both wins against the Hammers and Burnley was club captain Odegaard.

He is the heartbeat of Arteta’s Arsenal team and like he did at Turf Moor in September 2021, the Norwegian playmaker opened the scoring with a fine strike.

Odegaard has a trademark finish: low and hard from outside the box to beat the goalkeeper at the near post. He did just that with a half-volley, leaving poor James Trafford – who has now conceded 50(!) goals this in the Premier League this season – with no chance.

The Gunners skipper had a strong first half and continued his fine form with an assist less than two minutes into the second, finding Bukayo Saka with a defence-splitting through ball.

It was then his lovely lobbed volley pass for Jakub Kiwior that facilitated Arsenal’s fourth of the afternoon.

Odegaard was obviously very good but Arsenal as a whole were outstanding yet again, scoring goals for fun without a recognised striker on the pitch.

Arteta and Arsenal will continue to be compared to Pep Guardiola and Manchester City and they are showing signs of the Cityzens pre-Erling Haaland, when they would have Phil Foden, for example, playing as the furthest forward central player.

Leandro Trossard has been the Foden of this Arteta system, with Kai Havertz – who scored a fine goal – sometimes slotting into a No. 9 role. There are goals all over this Arsenal team, which is constantly evolving under Arteta.

Both Burnley and Arsenal are extremely different from the teams that faced off in the aforementioned fixture. While Arsenal are different for all of the right reasons, the Clarets are not. Although they were relegated in 21/22, you would not see teams go to Turf Moor and rip them a new one. That is happening far too often under Vincent Kompany.

Sean Dyche’s Burnley made Arteta’s Arsenal work hard for the three points two seasons ago but it felt like a foregone conclusion from the first minute on Saturday, with Odegaard’s early strike quickly turning it into a case of how many.

This sort of ruthless edge is what can make the Gunners champions for the first time in two decades; the journey they have been on since that 1-0 win is a remarkable one and there have not been many more influential players than captain Odegaard.