You'd have to say that Gray is winning the battle against Mustafi. Keeps getting turned every time Burnley attack.
HT. 0-0. Burnley haven't been as defensive as I anticipated, they've shown some good attacking intent and had a few decent shots on our goal. They've managed to maintain their shape very well too. I suppose we should have expected this against a well-drilled side. We've been better in relative comparison to most of our home matches this season, but we're still lacking a bit of cutting edge up front. We've had some good chances and potential chances, but we've not taken advantage. Bear made a good point about Giroud - against teams that have tired defences or who are deliberately set up to park the bus, he should be utilised but against teams who have a go and take risks, we need to play at a higher tempo and Giroud disrupts our flow in that regard.
I noticed that Burnley's defensive line has been higher up than usual and they've condensed our play because they know Giroud won't run in behind. Giroud should have been a sub, in my opinion.
We should be making Burnley look worse than this. Since Giroud has come back into the side we look lacklustre. even the games we have won and been far harder to win than they should be.
A win at home that would place us second, with a slim chance of staying in title race and yet this team is playing lethargically? I truly give up.
