Bournemouth are the latest side aiming to halt Arsenal’s winning run when the two teams meet in just over an hour. The Gunners are fully aware that they must continue their streak of victories, and this is the side Mikel Arteta has selected to maintain their current winning run.
The home team have endured a challenging few weeks, but matches like this provide an opportunity to rediscover their best form. Arsenal, on the other hand, must remain vigilant, as a single poor performance could see them drop crucial points. Every aspect of their game will require focus, discipline and intensity to ensure they do not slip up against a side capable of causing surprises.
Even after selling many of the players who made them particularly difficult to beat last season, Bournemouth have maintained their reputation as a stubborn and resilient team. When operating at their peak, they can compete with and even defeat the strongest opponents. Arsenal will need to take every precaution to prevent the Cherries from taking advantage, applying pressure and controlling the game from start to finish.
This season, Arsenal have perfected the art of restricting opponents and not allowing them to dictate play, a quality that will be essential in this encounter. Their tactical discipline and collective organisation will be tested, particularly against a side that has previously demonstrated its ability to frustrate the Gunners.
Arsenal’s squad will also carry extra motivation into this match. The memory of back-to-back defeats to Bournemouth last season is likely to fuel their determination to claim all three points. Securing a victory would not only maintain their lead at the top but also send a clear signal that they are prepared to compete for the Premier League title.
With both teams aware of what is at stake, the game promises to be a compelling contest. Arsenal must combine focus, aggression and consistency if they are to overcome a resilient Bournemouth side and continue their march toward the title.
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Like it lots, especially front three.
Looking for speed against Bournemouth’s full-backs?
I think so, hence our front three
Looks a decent team. Wondering why Haverts not in the squad. I hope no new injury concerns. Would have started Norgard though and allowed Rice enough time to heal. Also hope Jesus come in early in readiness for potential start against Liverpool.
Good changes, I just think Norgard, especially away from home should have replaced Zubimendi but maybe Arteta dare not make too many changes. Front 3 need to rush at Bournemouth to create havock, over quality.
Bournemouth did the double on us last season. They are no pushovers.
Full throttle ahead. Resting wingers, thats good. Hopefully Madueke and Gyökeres score today
Yes, I like the rotation of the wingers. Rice should only play though if the knee is right. Eze, Merino, Ethan and Skells, and Norgy can all play there. That Rice was so badly missed against Villa is a bit overblown – Villa were getting joy pinging long balls, this was merely a tweak to activity of the back line to prevent it.
I feel sad for Eze,
Isn’t supposed to be on bench three consecutive matches
Eze doesn’t work well with Gyokeres
He has been piss poor generally
I like how Arteta is letting him no he’s not in Crystal Palace where he’s the King
Here there are people who can keep you steadily on the bench if you don’t sit up
I was surprised when Berta and Arsenal signed Eze, since we had got a plethora of attacking midfielders
Berta should’ve known that Arsenal generally don’t have plenty of space in the final-third, because most EPL teams use low-block tactics against us
It’s so different from Crystal Palace, where Eze got a lot of final-third space to exploit
I think Eze can only become CAM again when Jesus or Havertz plays false-nine
Plethora you say? One is still junior, one is really best as a left wing, one has shifted to more of a center forward role. I think that word glosses a little how desperate we were for more depth last season! Eze gives us the senior-level backup for Ødegaard we needed. He’s never gonna succeed Øde as a starter.
It’s true we don’t get a lot of space in the final third. That’s become an issue across the entire league really if you see the stats this season. Lots more deep defensive blocs. Still think Eze was a good shout for a backup role, I mean the man remains capable of clutch goals and hat tricks on his day.
He’ll come good, and will definitely be starting games seeing how packed our January is
Sorry but Eze havent been great. We give Gyökeres stick, and rightly so, but Eze havent been consistent either. Nor was Ödegaard but he has now found form.
Arteta is really trusting Gyokeres or maybe it’s because his love Havertz is not fully fit yet.
Hopefully the trust pays and he starts scoring goals.
Martinelli and Madueke should perform well as they have been selected.
I dont think Havertz is match ready. He just had a 5 month layoff.
No complaints, but this Arsenal squad will give the coach some management issues when everyone is fit and healthy. Such qualities, such depth in the squad.
2nd string wingers, need em to produce. I think this lineup hints Gyokeres may not be 1st string striker much longer. Some rotation definitely coming in the forward slot
Gyökeres badly needs a goal in open play, can’t keep justifying his selection if he’s not contributing, another blank today and I think alongside Eze he’ll be on the bench.
Gyokeres will get this whole season
Then next season he’ll get the dryer treatment the instance he drops the bar
And that’s mainly cos he’s always putting in the effort currently
Eze was strolling around for about 4/5 starts – doing the barest minimum
Gyokeres wouldn’t really need to score if he can dominate the huge EPL CBs physically as Giroud did
Me I’m scared of those 2 wingers starting on
The one on the left shows up once in a blue moon or when the opposition overly pushes up
The one on the right only dribbles for fun with nothing coming out
It’s an away match – away matches are usually tough for even our best starting lineup
I’ll rather try this at home when the opposition wouldn’t be enthusiastic about getting a win themselves
Bournemouth could want a win, it’s their home
But I understand it’s Liverpool next, and the reason to rest the main wingers
Semenyo will want to score for City……
If talks with Man City is at advanced stage – there’s nothing to prove anymore
I think he’ll actually be more concerned about not getting injured
Nonetheless, when you’re on form – u don’t need to do “overly too much” to produce magic
Semenyo will be well up for it today, his last game for Bournemouth and a chance to start his city career on a good note, we have to shut him down, an early crunching challenge will do nicely! 😀
Naa
Wouldn’t want someone doing that to our StarBoy
So none of that please
I’m positive about the line up and the game. Good to see first team rotated, it will definitely breed confidence in the squad.
Today Nuno did what Emery did at Emirates: went to the tunnel without shaking the hand of Edwards after West Ham were emphatically beaten by Wolves. Is it the ‘new normal’ when managers are beaten by their former club? Bad precedent was set
Good God
What a howler. Horrible
That is Gabi? Unbelievable
Brazilian connection for the goal. Maghales to Evanilson. Hope Maghales will make amends with his header goal.
Redemption!
Gabi, what a redemption
Redeemed but lovely stuff by Nadueke
Madueke
We are not able to control the game at all
No we’re not. Some sloppy passing
We’re struggling with the high press again. Our passing could be better too but this Bournemouth side need credit tbh..
So we play our fastest wingers but instead of playing directly for them to chase we are playing out from the back against a high press team. We are causing all of our own problems at the moment.
We are very poor in possession
Not at all able to pass it out
Exactly why I don’t rate Zubemendi, cant handle even mild pressure. Multiple misplaced passes and zero control in the midfield, not plugging any holes when we are defending.
Some can see it, many cant. Easy to look good when we have lots of possession and territory
I saw it. He was very poor today , as far as I’m concerned he was directly responsible for the first goal , as he should have moved the ball forward instead of passing it sideways to a marked Rice., and indirectly responsible for the second because he was the one that should have quickly closed down kuopi. He had a dreadful first half.
Why are we giving the second ball away so much? This is dreadful, Arteta should give them a rocket at half time.
We’re causing ourselves more problems than them at the minute. Simple passing is even an issue for us.
That was a foul on rice, but our hesitation to distribute the ball is a bad habit.
We are looking fragile at the back, not a good look. Let’s hope we have the same 2nd half like vs villa.
They are in our faces all the time when we have the ball, but we are backing off when they have it.
Martinelli is shocking on left
Just crossing without any penetration
We need Trossard on left
My god we suck this half!
We slow it down and over play things..
This is why Arteta doesnt rotate much, oof.
Also, this is why if you’re gonna spend 50mill on a winger they should actually have a decent goal scoring record. We are still waiting on Noni’s first goal or assist for us, though tbh he did well for the Gabriel goal. But more is needed from him and Martinelli. Gyok, not much to do because we cant get the ball forward. Tbh I think we need the spare man in midfield and should bring in Gabby J.
What the hell was Odergaard doing? He had the goal at his mercy, and he decides to go diagonally backwards into the Bournemouth defence. Unbelievable.
Wasted the teams time. There were seconds left and just randomly killed the whole attack…
Magalhaes should thank Madueke for creating an easy scoring chance
I hope we’ll score another set-piece goal
At least we can put to bed this myth that everyone plays low block against us and that we play better when teams press us
Our midfield is vacant, their players have 20-30 yards to run straight at our defence without a DM in sight. Need to put Rice at DM and bring Merino on or put Norgaard on.
Ode only seems to be able to play with Saka on the pitch, poor all around
A better second half please, we have been sloppy in possession, and our passing hasn’t been any impressive.
But again what a bench to have 🥳
We need to step up in the 2nd half
Drop in the quality is clearly visible on left side since Trossard is on bench
We need to Bring Trossard in the 2nd half
Martinelli has been wasteful
Not at all using his pace
Not at all taking on defenders
Just pointless crosses in the box
We are unable to contain possession from Bournemouth press
Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy, Gabriel and Zubimendi messing about passing the ball back and sideways and not quick enough. Poor poor finishing from Odergaard and Madueke but Madueke did redeem himself a bit. The final 10 seconds summed it up. We had chances and players in the box for a cross and we ran the clock down and failed to make an easy chance. That is a bit like we have been, too slow and not getting the ball into the box early. Not the best half. Lets not waste the Villa win, Bournemouth are not that great.
Credit to Bournemouth who have been dogged throughout the half and have caused some poor passing and indecision.
At least we can put to bed this myth that everyone plays low block against us and that we play better when teams press us.
Midfield is completely vacant, they have 20-30 yards to run straight at our defence without a DM in sight! Either put Rice DM and bring Merino on or put Norgaard on.
Ode only seems to be able to play well when Saka is on, poor overall
Naa don’t mention Merino in a match where opposition are pressing so hard
Common !
He’d be on as box to box, not DM
Better than Zubemendi in the 1st half all day long
Rice is currently our box-to-box right ?
He practically marks, tackles and defends even more than Zubi
A box-to-box still plenty defensive duties
And when the opposition is mounting plenty pressure they can make plenty blunders if they aren’t strong, with stamina and very comfortable with the ball
Strength & Stamina – those are things Merino doesn’t have at all
Neither does Zubemendi so not really making sense mate
Maybe you missed all the blunders already with the strength and stamina you mentioned?
Anyway, cheers
I simply said Merino should not be in list of people you are mentioning as replacement for Zubi
U mentioned they were mounting pressure on our midfielders and Zubi couldn’t cope (I don’t oppose that)
Then u mentioned Merino
Merino is not a solution in such a situation
That’s what I meant
I didn’t say Zubi was doing well
It’s like saying we’re struggling for possession and mentioning Martinelli as a solution for that
This game is open, we are letting Bournemouth in
We need to put them permanently on the backfoot & it’s Saka that helps us with that
Noni has been great
It’s actually Martinelli that needs to be substituted but Saka is our XFactor
He’s the one that makes us better than other teams
Bournemouth are matching us in this game and it could go any way
We could lose or draw
We need Saka or Trossard or both substitutions very early
Declan Rice we got him half price 🤩
Hurrah!
To was just about to post something negative when Rice scored
Try to it again
We may score again
Rice
Gyokeres does brilliantly there to draw defenders
Yes
1st time he outmuscled 2 defenders
Awesome, first decisive looking passing pattern of the game from us !
Yyyeesss! Let’s not go all defensive now, let’s get more goals.
Tbh Bournemouth been running most of this game anyways 😬
Still needs a goal for confidence but great work from Gyokeres
Arsenal need to sign new LW soon
Clearly Martinelli is not the long terms solution
Please makes some subs Arteta we need some urgency, or are you going to wait until we concede?
Brilliant
Rice is cooking!!!
Thats more like it.
What a sloppy goal to concede
Because we’re relaxing again. When will we learn l?
Wow what a superb finish
Going to be a different picture for the remainder of this game
Yet again a hole the DM should be covering or closing down at least left completely vacant for the goal
Where was our holding midfielder?
If we play like this then we are surely gonna concede another
Not happy with the clearance leading up to that goal, I think it was Jesus
What happened to our rock solid defense
And what kind of substitution is this?
Taking AM off and putting CM
Arteta is playing out to see off the game now
We have conceded both goals sloppily
Disgusting simulation by Adli to try and get a penalty. Deserves a red card n 10 match suspension.
Should’ve at least had a yellow, and he would’ve been off.
👍100% but second yellows are harder to get apparently. We will see how thatt plays out.
That was a big, big win and I’m mightily relieved
Massive 3 points. COYG
Huge 3 points, over to City tomorrow, 7 points behind us and playing catch up, pressure is on!
Arsenal not finishing games well
Good win in the end against a tricky but unremarkable opponent. Apart from Gabriels sloppyness and the periods where we were too slow and passive, a good performance and 3 points.
Great result for us, we need to keep winning to add more desperation to our chasers. Those moments were not quintessential Arsenal defense, but we need to work on these, high press can be hard for any team, we need our formation to be more compact and passing shallow be more decisive.
I am surprised that Eze again got zero minute, is he injured?
Martinelli, unfortunately, I am a big fan of him, but seems the boat has sailed.
I think we made a lot more of that than we should’ve. The first goal was a mistake by Gabriel, which fair enough he made up for, but we gave them far too much space for the second, off a free kick that never should’ve been.
Massive three points but outside of Rice, I thought none of our players were exceptional today. Martinelli was the standout culprit but even his haters would admit that he was getting crap service from his midfielders and wingback and then again were Jesus and Trossard any better? I didn’t even see Nwaneri on the bench. Arteta definitely not doing the kid and favours clearly favouring ty slow and steadies.
Yeah. You got a good point that Trossard did not do much better on the left until somewhere near the end. Their right back did well today.
Gyokeres seems to be adjusting, a positive sign for us.
Joe.S what makes you think that Nwaneri should be starting or coming on as a sub right now?
Nwaneri has been great everytime he was played. I never saw him give a poor performance, coach just stopped playing him. Maybe his good play was not what the coach instructed
I saw it. He was very poor today , as far as I’m concerned he was directly responsible for the first goal , as he should have moved the ball forward instead of passing it sideways to a marked Rice., and indirectly responsible for the second because he was the one that should have quickly closed down kuopi. He had a dreadful first half.
This was a good win against a tricky opponent. Bournemouth’s system is challenging for many teams to play against despite their recent poor form. Their high intensity pressing was one of the reasons for the apparent sloppiness that was notable in the first half. They also have some talented underrated players.
Now it’s on to Liverpool who present a different type of challenge.
For me, Zubimendi seems to be more vulnerable away from home. He seems to be alright when we have a lot of the ball and are controlling games, but if we find ourselves under the cosh, he struggles.