Arsenal return to Premier League action on Saturday lunchtime with a nine-point lead at the top of the table, welcoming a Bournemouth side that has not lost in eleven consecutive top-flight matches but has drawn five of them in a row, a clash that sets form against momentum at a crucial stage of the title race.
Kick-off at the Emirates Stadium is 12.30pm. Arsenal come into this having won four consecutive Premier League games and having beaten Sporting Lisbon 1-0 in the Champions League quarter-final first leg on Tuesday.
Bournemouth have not lost since February but their last five games have all ended level, meaning they arrive in north London either as a team building something or a team struggling to find a finishing touch. With a four-point gap to seventh place, a European push is still technically alive for Iraola’s side.
Arsenal vs Bournemouth Team News
Arsenal team news vs Bournemouth
Arteta has a cluttered injury list heading into the weekend. Piero Hincapie, and Mikel Merino are all definitely out.
Eberechi Eze was spotted in training. Bukayo Saka carries an unspecified issue and Jurrien Timber has a groin problem, with both assessed before the squad is named. The bigger concern is the two players who picked up knocks against Sporting: Martin Odegaard and Leandro Trossard both came off during Tuesday’s game and their availability is uncertain.
If both are ruled out, Arteta is likely to promote the two super subs who shaped the Sporting result, Gabriel Martinelli and Kai Havertz into the starting lineup.
Declan Rice, Gabriel Magalhaes and Trossard all played through knocks to feature against Sporting, which is a useful reminder that Arteta will not leave anything to chance at this stage of the season. Viktor Gyokeres leads the line and is in excellent form.
Bournemouth team news vs Arsenal
Iraola has his own absentees to manage. Justin Kluivert and Julio Soler will not return until next month.
Tyler Adams and Lewis Cook are doubts but not firmly ruled out. The most interesting name in the squad is Eli Junior Kroupi, the 19-year-old who withdrew from France Under-21 duty during the international break but is expected to be available.
Kroupi has nine Premier League goals this season and needs one more to become the first teenager in 26 years to reach double figures in a debut top-flight campaign, after Robbie Keane for Coventry City in 1999-2000. Marcos Senesi starts at centre-back, with interest from Aston Villa and Tottenham not yet affecting his commitment at the Vitality.
Predicted Lineup
Possible Arsenal XI: Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori; Havertz, Zubimendi, Rice; Madueke, Gyokeres, Martinelli
Possible Bournemouth XI: Petrovic; Jimenez, Hill, Senesi, Truffert; Christie, Scott; Ryan, Croupee, Tavernier; Evanilson
Arsenal vs Bournemouth Prediction
Arsenal have won seven straight home games across all competitions, scoring at least twice in six of them. They also beat Bournemouth 3-2 at the Vitality in January thanks to a Declan Rice double. The Cherries did take all three points at the Emirates last April in a 2-1 shock, so there is a recent precedent to cite, but the context now is very different, Arsenal are a team that has found a level of consistency that eluded them all of last season.
Bournemouth’s unbeaten run is genuinely impressive, but five consecutive draws suggest a team that finds it difficult to impose their will on games as an away side. That profile suits Arsenal’s pragmatic home approach well. Arteta’s team have shown all season they do not need to be fluent to win, and sandwiched between two demanding European nights, a controlled home performance leading to a narrow win feels like the most likely outcome.
Prediction: Arsenal 2-1 Bournemouth.
