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Football London
Football London
Sport
Tashan Deniran-Alleyne

Troy Deeney has changed his mind about Arsenal under Mikel Arteta

Troy Deeney has explained why he's changed his mind on Arsenal's progress under Mikel Arteta.

Despite guiding the Gunners to victory in the FA Cup final back in August, the Spaniard is finding his first full season in charge a very difficult one thus far.

Ahead of Sunday's clash at home to Burnley, Arsenal find themselves struggling in 15th position after winning just one of their last seven games in the Premier League.

Not many will have predicted the north London outfit would be three places above the relegation zone after 11 games, and Deeney has a warning for Arteta.

Arsenal vs Burnley - Match Preview

Deeney once risked the wrath of Arsenal fans by saying the team lacked 'cojones' after losing to Watford in the 2017/2018 season.

But whilst he thinks the Gunners can no longer be intimidated on a physical level, he is of the opinion that Arteta's squad remain a soft touch.

In fact, despite partially changing his mind about Arsenal since Arteta's appointment, Deeney believes the Gunners could find themselves involved in a relegation battle should they lose at home to Burnley.

"Arsenal remain something of a soft touch — but a different sort of soft touch," Deeney said. "Not a team you can physically intimidate but a team who will always give you a chance.

"Burnley will believe they can win at the Emirates tomorrow.

"They will look to exploit Arsenal’s weaknesses from set-pieces and they will look to hit them on the break, too.

"If they lose, then Arsenal could slip towards a genuine relegation battle and Arteta will be in serious trouble."

Deeney's comments about Arsenal's weakness from set-pieces may confuse fans as the Gunners are yet to concede a goal from such a position in the Premier League this season.

With that said, they were hit on the counter-attack to devastating effect twice in the North London Derby and do go into the game against Burnley seven points clear of the relegation zone.

But with home games against the Clarets as well as Southampton on the horizon, maximum points would see Arsenal looking at challenging for the European spots once again.

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