Arsenal host Bournemouth at the Emirates to kick off the final run of matches to close out the season. Seven games stand between the Gunners and their first Premier League title in more than two decades. Arsenal’s magic number is 16 points for them to pick up / have Manchester City drop (or 15 points plus maintaining the +7 GD advantage). But the Cherries aren’t going to go quietly.
Mikel Arteta’s good friend Andoni Iraola’s side have been a major thorn in the side. Bournemouth managed the double
over Arsenal last season and pushed the Gunners in January before falling 3-2. The Cherries are a deceptive 13th in the table, both on their own merit and because the middle of the pack is so crowded. A mere four points separates them from 7th place and a place in the Europa Conference League.
Bournemouth haven’t lost a match since facing Arsenal in January. Unfortunately for them, they’ve also struggled to win matches, managing a 4-7-0 record since that tilt. Overall, they’ve played to 15 draws, the most in the Premier League and just three off the all-time record for a PL season.
Their defending has let them down. They’ve conceded the 6th-most goals in the Premier League this season. That is kind of what you’d expect from a side that sold three of their four starting defenders from the previous year (Zabarnyi to PSG, Huijsen to Real Madrid, and Kerkez to Liverpool). They’d managed to keep the attack ticking over well enough, at least until selling Antoine Semenyo to Manchester City two days after facing Arsenal in January. The winger still leads the club in goals this season (10) despite leaving the club three months ago.
The Cherries struggle to defend set pieces, allowing the joint-most goals in the Premier League from the dead ball (inclusive of penalties). Over their last six PL matches, however, they’ve only conceded one goal to an opposing player in open play — three OGs, two penalties, and a handful of set piece goals against. The Cherries are unbeaten in their last 6 PL away matches (2W, 4D).
Bournemouth have scored 11 goals from outside the box in the league this season, the second-most behind Aston Villa (14). Interestingly, Arsenal have scored the third-most (9). Evanilson has scored in his last two matches against the Gunners, although his goal in the January match was an absolute gift from Gabriel. It still counts the same, though!
The visitors will be without Justin Kluivert, who needed knee surgery after landing awkwardly against the Gunners in January. Lewis Cook misses out, too. Alex Jimenez and Junior Kroupi, who picked up minor injuries over the last international break, trained with the squad and are available for selection, although likely only for limited minutes. Tyler Adams is back in training after his most recent injury layoff, as are Ben Gannon-Doak and Julio Soler.
Mikel Arteta was coy about Arsenal’s injury absences. None of Bukayo Saka, Jurrien Timber, Martin Ødegaard, Piero Hincapie, nor Riccardo Calafiori participated in the open portion of training on Thursday. When asked about those players’ statuses on Friday, the manager would only reveal that there have been changes since training the day before. Martin Ødegaard’s injury is not thought to be serious, more of an impact knock. Ebere Eze was a surprise early return to training and is available for selection.
Lineups will be posted when available.
WHO: Arsenal vs Bournemouth
WHERE: The Emirates London
WHEN: Saturday, April 11th, 4:30 am PT | 7:30 am ET | 12:30 pm GMT
HOW TO WATCH: Broadcast on USA
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