Arsenal will look to strengthen their position at the top of the Premier League table on Saturday night as they travel to the Vitality Stadium to take on out-of-form Bournemouth.
Arsenal extended their lead at the top of the Premier League to five points on Tuesday night, as they thrashed third-placed Aston Villa, on an evening where all three of my selections landed.
That result extended the Gunners’ winning run to four matches in the Premier League, but Mikel Arteta’s men had dropped points in three successive away games prior to the 0-1 victory in Merseyside against Everton in their last road trip.
Bournemouth bounced back from their 4-1 thrashing at Brentford by going to Stamford Bridge and playing out a 2-2 draw.
Whilst that’s now four draws from their last five Premier League outings, Andoni Iraola’s men have failed to win any of their past 10 (W0-D5-L5), seeing them fall down to 15th in the table.
How the bookies view it: Gunners favourites
Unsurprisingly, Arsenal have been installed as favourites to record a fifth consecutive Premier League victory, with bet365 pricing an away success at 12/25.
Bournemouth are 5/1 (bet365) underdogs to end their 10-match winless streak in the Premier League, whilst the draw is 15/4.
Head to head: Two wins on the spin for the Cherries
Perhaps a little surprising, Bournemouth did the double over Arsenal last season, winning 2-0 in their corresponding last October, before winning 1-2 at the Emirates at the beginning of May.
Players to watch: Trossard to find the target again?
Leandro Trossard’s fine form for Arsenal this season continued on Tuesday night, as he scored and provided an assist in the Gunners’ 4-1 thrashing of Aston Villa.
The Belgian international now has eight goal contributions in his previous 10 Premier League appearances for Arsenal, and I like the 5/6 on offer at bet365 for him to Score or Assist on Saturday.
Predicted line-ups:
Bournemouth will be missing the injured Veljko Milosavljevic, Tyler Adams and Ben-Gannon-Doak, whilst Lewis Cook and Ryan Christie are rated doubtful.
Mikel Arteta will likely still be without defenders Riccardo Calafiori and Cristhian Mosquera, but Ben White, Declan Rice and Kai Havertz are all expected to be part of the matchday squad.
AFC Bournemouth: Petrovic, Jimenez, Hill, Senesi, Truffert, Scott, Tavernier, Brooks, Kluivert, Semenyo, Evanilson
Arsenal: Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Hincapie, Zubimendi, Odegaard, Rice, Trossard, Saka, Gyokeres
Anything else catch the eye?
Arsenal travel to the Vitality off the back of four successive wins in the Premier League following their impressive 4-1 victory over in-form Aston Villa, and I expect them to grind out another three points against their struggling hosts.
The Gunners are a general 12/25 to Win, but throwing in Under 4.5 Goals boosts the price to a more appealing 10/11 at Coral/Ladbrokes.
This would be a winning selection in 11/14 (79%) of Arsenal’s Premier League victories this season, including in all five of their wins away from home.
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