Arsenal's torrid start to the season is their worst in the league for 46 YEARS

Five defeats from their last six and just five points above the relegation zone - it's fair to say Arsenal are on the ropes.

Sunday's shock home defeat to Burnley - their fourth on the trot at the Emirates in the Premier League - means the Gunners have endured their worst start to a league season in 46 years.

Mikel Arteta's side are languishing in 15th place and a team short of confidence is currently letting themselves down in the discipline department too.

Granit Xhaka's sending off cost them dear on Sunday, as his petulant grab of Ashley Westwood's throat meant he saw red - this came just three weeks after Nicolas Pepe's headbutt against Leeds United.

In fact, it says a lot when you have to look as far back as the mid-1970s for the last time Arsenal plundered to such domestic lows.

Back then, under the stewardship of club legend Bertie Mee in the 1974-75 season, Arsenal went on a streak of 12 games without a win in all competitions at the start of the campaign.

Ironically, that included a 1-0 defeat at home to Burnley, as well as a 2-0 defeat at home to Tottenham in carbon-copy results from this season.

The low point that year came 10 years in, when a 2-0 loss against Leeds at Elland Road meant they hit rock bottom of the old First Division.

However things turned around from November, when a 3-1 win at table-toppers Liverpool reignited the campaign for Mee and his stars, which included forward Charlie George, as well as Alan Ball and Liam Brady.

Club legend Pat Rice, who ended his 56-year association with the club in the summer, was also part of the playing squad as was Brian Kidd, who is still working in the backroom team at Manchester City under Pep Guardiola.

But that victory at Anfield did not propel the Gunners to greater heights. From that point on, results fluctuated and although they avoided relegation, it was only by four points, with Luton, Chelsea and Carlisle going down.

Of course, famously, Arsenal have never been relegated - but 1974-75 campaign was one of the occasions where they've come closest, finishing 16th in the table.

There was no cup success to make up for the disappointment in the league either, as they were knocked out at the quarter-final stage of the FA Cup by West Ham and the second round of the League Cup by Leicester.

So, did Mee face the chop at the conclusion of an under-par season? Not quite, though he did not hang about at Highbury for too much longer.

After 10 yers which included the League title and the FA Cup, Mee resigned in 1976 as the most successful manager in the club's history, with 241 wins - a record since surpassed by Arsene Wenger.

However, in the modern time patience wears much thinner when it comes to managerial casualties.

Though Arteta is just one year into a three-year contract, the Spaniard needs to trigger a response in his side, pronto.

The fixture-list is far from a cakewalk either - they entertain in-form Southampton on Wednesday night. What's more, they'll be no fans inside the Emirates, with London set to go into Tier 3 restrictions.

The Gunners then travel to face Everton at Goodison, before playing Chelsea on Boxing Day - an EFL Cup quarter-final tie against Manchester City is in-between the two.

Something has to change soon, because Arteta won't get the same time as Mee 46 years ago. And if Arsenal aren't careful, they may be looking behind them with anxiety before they can begin to have top-half aspirations.