
Bournemouth welcome league leaders Arsenal to the south coast on Saturday evening looking to build on their 2-2 draw vs Chelsea in the capital. Winless in 10, the Cherries will have their work cut out.
Our Premier League tipster Nathan Joyes takes a look at whether a shock result can happen or whether Arsenal will start 2026 with a bang.
Although their 2-2 draw against Chelsea was a step in the right direction, Bournemouth remain without a win since the end of October. If it wasn't for other teams performing so poorly at the start of the season, Bournemouth would be much closer to the relegation zone.
But this is form that cannot continue in 2026 if they want to avoid being dragged into it. However, the good news for Bournemouth fans is that they have started to turn those defeats into draws.
Points against Chelsea - twice - and Man United are steps in the right direction - even if they have only kept one clean sheet in their last 10.
Stopping Arsenal, however, will be their toughest task to date.
Arsenal are relentlessly hunting down their first title since 2004. Having lost to Aston Villa a few weeks back, Arteta's side made sure it didn't happen again.
A 4-1 victory followed - their fourth straight Premier League win since that defeat - temporarily extending their lead at the top to five points.
Only arch-rivals Spurs have a better away record than Arsenal this campaign - and that's only on goals scored. And so Arsenal make the short trip to Bournemouth full of confidence and hoping to make it three wins on the bounce on their travels across all competitions.
Declan Rice will miss the trip - as will Riccardo Calafiori - but Arsenal's incredible depth is why they are sat at the top of the tree heading into 2026.
Bournemouth head into this fixture against Arsenal looking for a third straight win over Mikel Arteta's side. The Cherries did the double over the Gunners last campaign, winning 2-0 at home and stealing all three points with a 2-1 win at the Emirates.
In fact, Arsenal have failed to beat Bournemouth inside 90 minutes in their last three meetings, but have won three of their last five visits to the south coast.
With Bournemouth finding it tough to hold onto leads and Arsenal brushing aside anyone who crosses them, it's easy to see why the visitors are the bookmakers favourites. But will it be that simple?
Nathan Joyes has taken a look at the Premier League odds for this match and puts his best bet on the table.
Bournemouth (5/1 with Betfred) aren't going to be a popular bet this weekend but having scored eight goals in their last four matches cannot be dismissed lightly.
Despite their long winless run, Bournemouth took the game to Chelsea midweek and having scored two goals inside 27 minutes shows this isn't a team lacking confidence.
But it's their lack of clean sheets which is costing them. With just one in their last 10, Arsenal (1/2 with Betano) will smell blood and look to maintain their gap between themselves and Man City.
Goals clearly aren't an issue for the league leaders, and having put four past Aston Villa midweek -with four different goalscorers - it's going to take something special to stop them from scoring.
And with that in mind, over 2.5 goals looks to provide more value than merely siding with the visitors to win again.
TIP: Over 2.5 goals at 7/10 with BetMGM.
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