Preview: Arsenal vs. Bournemouth

Bidding to temporarily go four points clear at the top of the Premier League standings, Arsenal kick off Saturday’s action with the visit of Bournemouth to the Emirates Stadium for the lunchtime kickoff.

The Gunners staved off a second-half Tottenham Hotspur fightback in an enthralling 3-2 North London derby win last weekend, while the Cherries hit Brighton & Hove Albion for three without reply.

Match preview

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Painful flashbacks to the capitulations of 12 months ago crossed the minds of Gooners last Sunday, where after Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz and a Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg own goal gave them a seemingly unassailable 3-0 lead over Tottenham, their bitter foes came roaring back.

David Raya and Declan Rice‘s blunders allowed Cristian Romero and Son Heung-min to threaten an almighty turnaround, but the latter’s penalty ultimately came too late for the Lilywhites to salvage anything from the heated derby, as Arsenal just about emerged unscathed from that five-goal classic.

Thanks to their latest victory in a game that Saka admitted his side may not have won last year, Arsenal have retained their vulnerable one-point advantage over Manchester City in first place, but owing to the champions’ game in hand, perfection may still not be enough to end their 20-year title drought.

With Liverpool more or less out of the race, though, it is a nerve-jangling straight shootout for glory between Mikel Arteta and his erstwhile employers, who do not play again until Saturday evening and will therefore fall further behind the Gunners if the Emirates giants make it four top-flight wins on the bounce this weekend.

Six of Arsenal’s seven Premier League home matches in 2024 so far have ended in triumph, the outlier being April’s alarming 2-0 loss to Aston Villa, and on the back of being on the right end of a 3-2 scoreline versus Tottenham, it is only appropriate that Arsenal reunite with Bournemouth after last year’s Emirates extravaganza.

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Safely marooned in mid-table as the campaign enters its dying embers, Bournemouth followed up their 1-0 beating of Wolves with an emphatic South Coast success against Brighton, where one of Andoni Iraola‘s attacking marksmen stole the show.

It was a quiet afternoon for Dominic Solanke at the Vitality Stadium, but Enes Unal shouldered the attacking burden – setting up Marcos Senesi‘s opener before heading home himself – and the 3-0 win was rubber-stamped when Justin Kluivert finished off a sweeping counter-attack right at the end.

Leaving the relegation dogfight well and truly behind, Iraola’s men are smack-bang in the middle of the standings in 10th spot on account of gleaning 48 points – their highest-ever Premier League total – and European qualification remains a mathematical possibility with just three games left to go.

The gap to Newcastle United in seventh and Manchester United in sixth stands at five and six points respectively, although Bournemouth have played a game more than both and face two tricky away days to conclude their campaign, also heading to Chelsea after hosting Brentford on May 11.

The work of Iraola and his coaching staff will not go unnoticed either way, but Bournemouth were demolished 4-0 by Arsenal on home soil back in September and blew a 2-0 lead in this fixture last March, where Reiss Nelson‘s 97th-minute winner sparked perhaps the wildest celebrations the Emirates has ever seen.

Arsenal Premier League form:

Arsenal form (all competitions):

Bournemouth Premier League form:

Team News

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Suffering no fresh fitness concerns in the North London derby, Arsenal might have all of their senior troops available this weekend, as ACL victim Jurrien Timber has now come through two matches with the Under-21s unblemished.

The Dutchman is apparently optimistic of his chances of making the matchday squad for the visit of Bournemouth, but he will surely only be considered for a spot on the bench, as Takehiro Tomiyasu holds the fort at left-back over Jakub Kiwior and Oleksandr Zinchenko.

Never one to unnecessarily rotate his resources, Arteta should stick with an identical XI from the win over Spurs, where Saka became the first Englishman since Ian Wright in 1996-97 to score 15 Premier League goals for Arsenal in a single season.

In contrast, Bournemouth are not so fortunate on the injury front and were subjected to a worrying sight in added time against Brighton, as attacker Antoine Semenyo left the field on a stretcher and was seen hobbling out of the stadium on crutches amid fears that he could be set for several months on the sidelines.

Iraola is still awaiting an official diagnosis on Semenyo’s knee injury, but he will definitely sit out Saturday’s game, as will Chris Mepham (illness), Milos Kerkez (suspension), Romain Faivre (thigh), Luis Sinisterra (thigh), Marcus Tavernier (thigh) and Ryan Fredericks (calf).

Tyler Adams (back), Philip Billing (illness) and Ilya Zabarnyi (illness) will also require once-overs in the coming hours, but the latter’s return could allow Dango Ouattara to deputise for Semenyo if Lloyd Kelly takes up left-back duties.

Arsenal possible starting lineup:
Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Tomiyasu; Odegaard, Partey, Rice; Saka, Havertz, Trossard

We say: Arsenal 3-1 Bournemouth

The handbrake has certainly come off for a Bournemouth side who have scored in each of their last 10 Premier League matches, and despite Arsenal’s unrivalled defensive record, the Gunners are still guilty of the odd rearguard mistake.

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