Three Things We Learned this week as Arsenal gear up for Champions League clash at Slavia Prague 

Here's Ian Mills regular column as he reflects on Burnley ahead of Slavia Prague vs Arsenal 

Arsenal extended their lead at the top of the Premier League to six points as Mikel Arteta's side recorded our fifth straight top-flight win 

1 - Declan is dynamite:

– Is there any way a £105m signing can actually look a bargain?

Well as far our Declan Rice is concerned he can.

He is playing the best football of his career and at Turf Moor he seemed to cover every blade of grass as he produced a complete midfield display.

His qualities as a defensive shield were already well known however I always envisaged that he could add goals to his game.

I said to a mate at the Atletico Madrid match that he could provide 10-15 goals a season, to which he baulked with surprise.

However, Rice took the header in his own words like ‘a traditional number nine’.

The move for the goal was superb as we broke from a Burnley corner, Viktor Gyokeres swept a superb ball wide left to Leandro Trossard who delivered a delightful cross which Rice powered home.

A combination of numerous attacking injuries plus Erling Haaland currently scoring goals for fun, means that we need to add strikes from all over the pitch.

Rice also has developed a huge strength with set pieces and his corner led to our first goal.

2 - Scoring goals with a Cannon on his chest:

– Viktor Gyokeres gave his most impressive half of football to date as an Arsenal player in this match.

He scored his sixth goal of this season when he nodded home Gabriel’s flick on from Rice’s corner.

He then played a majestic cross field pass to Trossard in the build up to our second goal. His link up play is really starting to gel with the team and he works hard for the side in every match.

Worryingly he will not feature against Slavia Prague due to a muscular problem. He has had to play for more games than expected due to several injuries in our attack and it is to be hoped his injury is not serious.

3 - Defensive excellence continues:

– This was our seventh clean sheet in a row, our club record is eight set way back in 1903.

We have now limited our opponents to just shot on target in our last three Premier League games and recorded our twelfth clean sheet of the campaign with just three goals conceded.

Sunderland away will be a huge test but with Manchester City due to face Liverpool twenty hours later it is an opportunity to lay down another marker.

First, though we face a tricky trip to Prague for our fourth Champions League tie - where we need to shuffle the pack once more to keep the squad fresh and focused.