An Arsenal outfit on a four-game Premier League winning run host a Bournemouth side on an 11-match top-flight unbeaten streak in Saturday’s intriguing Emirates showdown.
The Gunners remain nine points clear at the top of the table, while the 13th-placed Cherries are four adrift of the top seven, and here Sports Mole rounds up the team news for both clubs.
Match preview
Amid the domestic cup disappointment and Champions League celebrations, it has been easy to turn a blind eye to Arsenal’s position in the Premier League, where Mikel Arteta’s men have won four games on the spin to breach the 70-point barrier.
Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea, Brighton & Hove Albion and Everton have all fallen to the Gunners’ superiority in that run – the latter falling victim to Viktor Gyokeres’s tap-in and Max Dowman’s historic goal – allowing Arsenal to steer a whopping nine points clear of Manchester City, albeit having still played one game more.
Saturday’s early kickoff will bring an end to nearly a month without a Premier League fixture for Arsenal, who have already won five straight Premier League games on two separate occasions this season, and only in 2013-14 and 2022-23 have they had three different streaks of 5+ Premier League victories in one campaign.
While neither the EFL Cup or FA Cup will be glistening in Arsenal’s trophy case this summer, Arteta’s men have one foot in the Champions League semi-finals thanks to Tuesday’s gritty 1-0 first-leg win over Sporting Lisbon, whom they host again at the Emirates next Wednesday.
Before thoughts turn to a likely UCL semi with Atletico Madrid, Arsenal chase an eighth consecutive home victory across all competitions; from their seven straight successes at the Emirates, six have also seen Arteta’s men score at least twice.
The visitors have miraculously avoided defeat in each of their last 11 top-flight contests – never before have they gone 12 without losing in the Premier League – but seven of those clashes have ended all square, including each of their last five.
Bournemouth shared the spoils with all of West Ham United, Sunderland, Brentford, Burnley and Manchester United before the international break, results that have neither significantly harmed nor helped the 13th-placed Cherries’ fleeting European chances.
A four-point gap to seventh-placed Brentford is far from insurmountable for Iraola’s side, who have managed to avoid defeat on each of their last five Premier League away days, albeit while playing out back-to-back 0-0 draws in their most recent two road trips.
The Cherries have got the better of Arsenal twice since the start of last season – including a shock 2-1 Emirates victory just under a year ago, their first-ever win away to the Gunners – but Arteta masterminded a thrilling 3-2 Vitality Stadium success in January, when Declan Rice popped up with a decisive double.
ARSENAL vs. BOURNEMOUTH
Arsenal FC
Out: Piero Hincapie (unspecified), Mikel Merino (foot)
Doubtful: Bukayo Saka (unspecified), Jurrien Timber (groin), Martin Odegaard (knock), Leandro Trossard (knock), Riccardo Calafiori (unspecified)
Sports Mole’s predicted XI: Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori; Havertz, Zubimendi, Rice; Madueke, Gyokeres, Martinelli
Bournemouth
Out: Justin Kluivert (knee), Lewis Cook (thigh)
Doubtful: None
Sports Mole’s predicted XI: Petrovic; Jimenez, Hill, Senesi, Truffert; Christie, Scott; Rayan, Kroupi, Tavernier; Evanilson