Arsenal travel to Bournemouth this evening for the next tricky fixture during this awkward period for Arsenal, with a view to extending the lead over Manchester City to 7 points, ahead of the Manchester side’s game against Chelsea tomorrow. Arsenal lost both fixtures last year against Bournemouth and although the Cherries are not in great form right now, they know all about how dangerous this team can be. Bournemouth have not won a game in their last 10 league fixtures, but have had some impressive draws and solid overall performances in this period. They are still going to be able to count on the services of Antoine Semenyo, who’s departure is still yet to be finalised, which will be a massive boost.
Arsenal need to be respectful of Bournemouth and approach this game in a professional manner however, if they are going to go on to be Champions come the end of May, you do feel like this is the sort of game where only three points is enough.
Areas of encouragement
Arsenal finally turned some of their fast-improving creative work into goals against Villa and should be full of confidence going into this one. Martin Odegaard played a starring role in both of the last two wins for Arsenal and is in fine form right now, which, if he carries the same form into this one tonight, will massively improve Arsenal’s chances of taking all three points.
Arsenal’s injured players are starting to return now, to the point where only two or three remain on the treatment table, so Mikel Arteta has plenty of competition and options desperate to step off the bench and contribute to the team, which can only help improve the performances of those chosen to start.
Although he returned in the last game, I’m going to mention it again here as it’s so massive – the return of Gabriel gives this team a completely different feel. A massive presence at the back, he’s also a huge threat at the other end from set pieces and his passion lifts the level of everyone around him.
Areas of concern
Call me negative, but I always worry about the wounded animal. It probably stems from years of trauma of watching Arsenal!! Bournemouth are on a long winless run right now and from the bits I’ve seen from them, I think they deserved to win at least two or three of those, so Arsenal need to be wary of any corrections of that form this evening.
I’m expecting Mikel Arteta to go with pretty much the same time as last time out against Villa, so freshness could be an issue, especially later in the game, if he doesn’t get the balance right.
What I’d love to see
I think I say it every time, but an early Arsenal goal could have a massive impact on both teams. Bournemouth are not a team to lie down when hit with a bit of adversity but given the run they are on currently and the growing influence of defenders like Gabriel and William Saliba, it would seem like a long way back for the Cherries should Arsenal hit them early.
I’d also love to see another energetic, purposeful performance, like we saw in the second half against Villa. Full of drive and clinical finishing.
A goal for Viktor Gyokeres would also be very timely, as the pressure continues to ramp up on our striker with each game without a goal.
What I’d hate to see
Bournemouth are absolutely full of running and Arsenal will need to match them all over the pitch if they are going to win this one. I’m a big believer in you have to earn the right to win any football match, so I’d hate to see Bournemouth out work/run Arsenal. The stakes couldn’t be any higher for Arsenal and the work rate needs to reflect that.
After putting the Villa game to bed nice and early, it would be disappointing to see Arsenal return to the wasteful ways of early December. Don’t get me wrong, I would take a scrappy 1-0 win, if it meant bringing home the points – we’re still in a results business – but I also think performances really matter and we need to build on that second half against Villa and make that the norm going forward.
Key battle
There’s a couple of really interesting battles in this one – Rice/Tavernier could be really tasty – but I’m going with Jurrien Timber against Antoine Semenyo. The spotlight is firmly on Semenyo right now as it feels like he needs to impress both his loyal Bournemouth fans on his way out of the club and the fans of his proposed new club, so he’ll be desperate to leave his mark on this game. Jurrien Timber on the other hand, has been in inspired form this season, both going forward and in his 1v1s at the back, so this is really unstoppable force and immovable object territory. Hopefully the immovable object comes out on top!
Lineup and Team News
At the time of writing, a question mark remains over the fitness of Declan Rice although based on Mikel Arteta’s press conference comments, I expect him to make the squad for this one. If that is the case, this would leave only Cristhian Mosquera and Riccardo Calafiori in the treatment room, which, compared to where we were a couple of weeks ago, is an amazing place to be.
That then leaves two questions for the boss – how much does he rotate and who does he have to leave out entirely?
On the first one, I really can’t see Arteta rotating too much. Especially at the back. He’s used his squad a lot better this season than previously however, he does favour continuity an awful lot as well and I’m certain he’ll see the best way to continue this run we are on is to keep the team as consistent as possible.
There’s another massive game on Thursday against Liverpool, but that is 5 days away and following that is an FA Cup tie away at Portsmouth, where rotation will likely be the order of the day. Therefore, we should be able to go with a light touch on the rotation and not push any of our players into the ‘red zone’ when it comes to injuries.
Gabriel coming off in the last game was apparently precautionary so with no Calafiori, I think he’ll start again here along with the rest of the back four.
The midfield is also likely to remain mostly the same however, I can’t think of many occasions where Declan Rice has been absent for two games in a row, so he’ll return to his midfield position alongside Martin Zubminedi and Odegaard.
In attack is where it gets really interesting as I’m not sure how long Viktor Gyokeres can keep Gabriel Jesus at bay, with the Brazilian now adding goalscoring to his previous lively cameos. I think that time is now and Arteta will reward the Brazilian with his first Premier League start in over a year. Gabriel Jesus is a master of getting the best of his teammates and one player in particular who has always benefitted from playing alongside Jesus is Gabriel Martinelli. With Bournemouth’s penchant for attacking play, this could be the perfect game for Martinelli’s pace in behind. Consequently, I’m going for a ‘Gabriel double’ with Leandro Trossard also dropping to the bench, to be introduced if necessary.
Martinelli has looked lively whenever he has come on and deserves the chance from the start. In contrast, Madueke did very little with the run out he was afforded against Villa, albeit fleeting, so Bukayo Saka will start on the right.
This then leads onto to who will be left out entirely, with 21 current fit outfield players (including Declan Rice) to choose from. There’s been much scrutiny over the minutes (or lack thereof) given to Ethan Nwaneri and I don’t see that fire being dampened here with the midfielder again unlikely to make the bench.
The last spot is really tough, as I’m leaning towards Christian Norgaard however, he proved really useful against Villa from the bench and there’s not many defensive options available so personally I think it would be a bit risky to leave him out. If Arteta was to leave out an attacker, I think the prime candidate would be Madueke, which would almost start a narrative on its own. This is why I think Arteta will lean towards Norgaard as being the one to make way, which does seem a little unfair.
Predicted lineup:
Raya
Timber
Saliba
Gabriel
Hincapie
Zubimendi
Rice
Odegaard
Saka
Jesus
Martinelli
Substitutes:
Arrizabalaga
Lewis-Skelly
White
Merino
Eze
Havertz
Gyokeres
Madueke
Trossard
PREDICTION
Another tough game. The good work against Villa will be severely diminished if Arsenal don’t push on from here. The Gunners absolutely have to win this one. I’m going 2-0 to The Arsenal.