Arsene Wenger: Arsenal were lucky against Burnley last time - they will try to 'kill' us on the counter-attack

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Tom Doyle22 January 2017

Arsene Wenger is well aware of the threat Burnley pose to Arsenal's Premier League title hopes on Sunday.

The Gunners can cut the gap on Chelsea to five points before the league leaders host Hull at Stamford Bridge later on Sunday, but Wenger's men must overcome Sean Dyche's Burnley at Emirates Stadium to do so.

The Clarets pushed Arsenal all the way in this season's reverse fixture, with Laurent Koscielny earning a controversial last-minute winner at Turf Moor in October.

While Arsenal will be expected to dominate the play once again today, Wenger accepts that Dyche will have a different game plan in order to try to put a dent in Arsenal's title ambitions.

"We were very close to drawing and maybe even losing the game because they had one or two chances from set-pieces with Sam Vokes," Wenger told the club's official website.

"It was the game where we have maybe been the most lucky because Koscielny touched the ball with his hand for the goal.

"We had a good domination but they defended very well. When we came out of the game I thought, ‘They will not go down’ because of their spirit and organisation.

"They have strong points there and they accept that they will give you the ball. Not many teams do that and keep their focus.

"They say, ‘OK from the start of the game you have the ball but we might try to kill you at some stage’. You need a special spirit to do that.

"Once you have 10 years in the Premier League, you have the pressure to do a bit more.

"In the first year, everybody accepts you will do that and that makes them dangerous because they are good at it and they accept it all together. That makes them efficient."

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