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Arsenal have the opportunity to go top of the Premier League temporarily as they visit the Vitality Stadium on Saturday evening. It is the stadium where Mikel Arteta took charge of a Gunners match for the first time and he has regularly enjoyed success there since.
Bournemouth are positioned in 13th - around where most would expect them to be at this stage and throughout the campaign. Many of their dropped points have been understandable in a tricky run of fixtures, but the 1-0 defeat by Leicester City just before the international break earned less sympathy from Cherries fans.
It was the third time in four games that Andoni Iraola’s side had failed to score, despite generating a total of 4.37 xG in losses to Chelsea, Liverpool, and the Foxes.
The Spaniard has voiced his frustration at the missed chances in recent weeks, and they will need to be more clinical if they have any hope of taking points off of Arsenal.
Arsenal have as many as nine injury concerns heading into the weekend, with three of those definitely ruled out. The Gunners were one of the more fortunate teams in the league health-wise last term, but they are without club captain Martin Odegaard until November and Saturday might come too soon for Ben White, who has missed the last four games.
Still, Bukayo Saka could feature on the South Coast despite coming off with a hamstring injury in England’s encounter with Greece. Gabriel Martinelli also picked up an issue while away with Brazil, plus Kai Havertz pulled out of international duty but should be fine.
The Gunners have emerged victorious on their last three trips to Bournemouth in all competitions, with the latest two triumphs being the most convincing.
Since Arsenal became title challengers again in 2022-23, they have a perfect record against the Cherries. Three of those four successes were light work for Arteta’s team, while the other was a stunning comeback from 2-0 down at the Emirates in which Reiss Nelson fired in a 97th-minute winner.
Iraola’s first attempt to upset the North London side was in September 2023. The Gunners swept Bournemouth aside in a 4-0 rout at the Vitality Stadium and completed the double over them in May this year.
Arsenal’s defensive prowess and historical results against Bournemouth don’t offer much encouragement to the Cherries.
The hosts must be particularly mindful of Bukayo Saka, whose output continues to improve year-on-year.
It has been a while since Arsenal found it difficult at Bournemouth, and the best bet for this fixture is for them to keep up their dominance over the South Coast side in a game with under 4.5 goals.
Arsenal are a bigger price to win at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday than they have been on each of their last two visits. Bournemouth are in a better place now than they were on either of those occasions, but the Gunners’ only dropped points on the road in 2024 have been at the Etihad Stadium, so I can’t refuse getting them on side.
The injuries are a slight worry, but none of their problems appear to be serious so I wouldn’t be surprised to see Saka, Havertz, and Martinelli all available. Even if one misses out, Leandro Trossard had a productive international break and arguably deserves to start anyway. They have more than enough defensive options to make up for any absentees there as well.
Not everybody likes backing teams at around 4/6, so I suggest adding in under 4.5 goals to create an odds-against bet. Arsenal are of course capable of running up a score but with an important Champions League game incoming on Tuesday, they are not likely to keep their foot on the accelerator for 90 minutes if they have a comfortable lead. Bournemouth have not lost a home game with five or more goals since Iraola became their manager.
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