Arsenal defender Ben White made just his second appearance for the north London club in last weekend’s win over Norwich City.
The 23-year-old centre-back, who signed for the Gunners for a fee understood to be around £50million over the summer transfer window, was absent from his new side after testing positive for Covid-19 last month.
White made his competitive Arsenal debut in the opening game of the campaign, in a 2-0 defeat to newly-promoted Brentford.
It was not an ideal evening for the former Brighton star, who came under fire for his showing against the Bees, who looked as if they were targeting White in the air.
White went in for 11 duels, but won just five (45.5%) of them, and seven in the air, winning just three (42.8%).
After the game, former Tottenham striker Darren Bent told talkSPORT that White had been ‘beat up’ at the Brentford Community Stadium.
“I felt so sorry for Ben White,” Bent said.
“If you take Ben White out of Arsenal’s team and put him in Man City or Chelsea, I bet he looks like that £50million player in terms of the way they would dominate possession and he’s a great footballer.
“For Brighton, he played really well in a back three. That’s where he was best and when we bought him.
“When you put him in a back four, everything about the team selection and shape and tactics didn’t fit.
“In the end, him and Pablo Mari got beat up. Ivan Toney and Bryan Mbuemo absolutely beat them up.”
White will face another huge test in the early stages of his Arsenal career when the Gunners face Burnley later this afternoon.
The England international has many positive qualities for a modern day central defender, with his ability to drive into the midfield and play a precise forward pass, as well as how comfortable he looks in possession, although his aerial ability is perhaps something that he will be keen to improve.
Burnley are not like many Premier League sides in terms of their playing style, and in numerous ways, they are somewhat of a throwback.
Sean Dyche loves his teams to play extremely direct to the likes of Chris Wood and Ashley Barnes, who are both dominant in the air.
Their delivery from wide areas, in particular from Dwight McNeil, is also excellent, meaning it could be a testing afternoon for White at Turf Moor.
There is no doubt that Mikel Arteta will have prepared for the threat that the Clarets pose in training over the week, with both White and Gabriel Magalhaes expected to start their second successive match after helping to keep a clean sheet against Norwich a week ago.