Burnley 0-0 Arsenal: 3 talking points from the goalless stalemate | Premier League 2019-20

#1 Change in fortunes for Mustafi?

Mustafi maintained a 74% passing accuracy vs Burnley

The Arsenal career of Shkodran Mustafi so far has consisted of mistakes upon mistakes. On many a high-profile occasion, the German has cost his team points and some fans have labelled that unforgivable. However, under Mikel Arteta, we’ve seen a more focused and streamlined Mustafi.

In a highly physical encounter and a game that saw Arsenal’s box come under much pressure, Mustafi defended his box with everything he had. It’s not easy to mark a 6’3” Chris Wood who is solely content on elbowing you in the face. Today, the 27-year-old impressively won 70% of his aerial duels (7). In addition to that, the German made 7 clearances, 2 interceptions and 1 tackle.

Arteta purposely started Mustafi over Sokratis as he believed he was more capable of dealing with the physical challenge posed by Burnley. We must also consider that the new manager is solely focused on playing out from the back and Mustafi once again proved he’s an asset in that department. The centre-back completed 45 passes today, the second most of any Arsenal player on the pitch.