Burnley 1-1 Arsenal: 3 things learned as VAR causes outrage at Turf Moor

2. Granit Xhaka is inconstistent

In football, mistakes can result in goals, they can result in sendings off,  it really just depends on the situation and today, Xhaka’s mistake in front of goal led to Burnley equalising.

A lot of pundits and Arsenal fans have been praising Xhaka for his efforts and contribution to the Arsenal squad this season, especially since Christmas,  and rightly so, but one mistake or one bad game and people are on the fence again about what he brings to the team as a whole.

One stat that stands out, is that since Xhaka joined Arsenal in 2016 under Arsene Wenger, he’s made more errors leading to goal (eight),  which is more than any other player in the Premier League.

He’s certainly been a shining light this season and has put in some brilliant performances under Mikel Arteta, but today’s mistake proves that the inconsistency is still there and it is certainly down to discipline and passion.

Before he made the mistake that cost Burnley to equalise, he looked confident in the midfield with Partey and he produced three accurate long balls in the 90 minutes as Arsenal controlled the majority of the first half, but after his mistake, he didn’t seem himself and didn’t make any sort of positive impact for the rest of the game.

Arsenal are coached to play out from the back as they have been for a very long time, but when you don’t make the right decisions near the box, which is what happened today, it’s not always going to end well and it will cost you to lose points, as shown today.