Arsenal vs Burnley Timeline & H2H Stats

In some ways, Arsenal versus Burnley is the very definition of a clash of cultures. The Gunners are the essence of a North London club, promising a shiny stadium, countless trophy wins and a supporter base that includes celebrities and politicians. Burnley, on the other hand, are a football club that sit in the heart of the north, struggling to remain in the top-flight for any length of time and tending to play football that is significantly more agricultural than cultured. Games between the pair are often not much fun to watch, given the fact that one team tends to put ten men behind the ball and defend with their lives.

Of course, the sport isn’t played in such cliches. For all that the two sides are often at diametrically opposed ends of the scale when it comes to how they play and what they’ve won, there are still plenty of examples of the teams producing exciting matches for supporters to get their teeth into. The very first game between the two sides saw Burnley walk away with a 6-1 win over the side that was known as Woolwich Arsenal at the time in the FA Cup. The next game was in the Second Division, with Burnley again spanking the Gunners by winning 5-0.

Arsenal Dominant in the Modern Era

It is fair to say that the two teams have essentially swapped places since the early stages of football. In the first five matches between the sides, Burnley won four of the contests and one of them was a draw. In the years that followed, the Gunners did manage to get some wins on the board, but the most generous interpretation of what happened was that the teams would mix up who was the more dominant. Usually, though, it was Burnley who took that crown, winning seven games and losing just two between 1921 and the end of 1926, with four draws thrown in there too.

It was a similar story towards the end of the 1950s into the 1960s, with the Clarets taking away the win ten times in comparison to Arsenal’s five. Fast forward to the modern era, however, and you’ll find that the Gunners have been much more successful. The two teams didn’t meet much until the turn of the millennium, but between Burnley’s return to the top-flight in 2009 and the end of the 2023-2024 campaign, there were 19 matches played between the sides. Of those, Arsenal won 14, with four draws and just one defeat in there. The Burnley of old, which could take the game to the Gunners, is no more.

Arsenal’s Full Match History Against Burnley