After a four-week wait, the Premier League returns on Saturday (12.45pm UK) as we enter the final stretch with a home clash against Bournemouth, looking to kick-start the run-in with another previous victory.
We’ll be facing the only side on a longer unbeaten run than us in the top-flight, as the Cherries haven’t tasted defeat in 11 games since our 3-2 win on the south coast back in January. Andoni Iraola’s men did triumph on our turf when they last visited in May 2025, but since then, we have lost just one Premier League home game.
That fortress-like form has catapulted us to the top of the table, and the opportunity now exists to open up a 12-point lead over Manchester City, who play on Sunday. That would be our biggest lead at the end of a day in Premier League history – with our previous best ironically coming at the end of our last title-winning campaign in 2003/04.
UNBEATABLE BOURNEMOUTH
Since our success at the Vitality Stadium on January 3, the Cherries have picked up something from every game since, albeit drawing their last five. That has left them with 15 stalemates from their 31 games, and their inability to turn one point into three leaves their fate hanging in the balance, as they sit 13th, but just four points off a European spot.
It’s been a streaky season for the Cherries, bouncing back from an opening day loss to Liverpool by going eight unbeaten, and then not winning between November and January before their current stretch. They have emerged victorious in just four of their last 22 top-flight games, and fell at the first hurdle in both cup competitions.
Having seen the talismanic Antoine Semenyo depart for Manchester City, goals have been in short supply with their last two away games at West Ham United and Burnley ending goalless, yet extending their unbeaten away run to six. When they take to the Emirates Stadium pitch, it’ll be 22 days since their last outing when they twice battled back to earn a 2-2 draw against Manchester United.
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WHAT THE MANAGERS SAY
Arteta: “We know the meaning of every match and the opportunity that we have, especially when we play at home. We need to maximise every result. It’s about each individual and how we turn up there. It’s actually impacting the game, the atmosphere and energy in the stadium.
“The closer we get, the relevance and importance of the match increases obviously, and tomorrow is a big day for us. The players know it, our supporters know it. It’s an early kick-off, so get up early, have an early breakfast, bring your lunch, bring your dinner, and let’s go all together for it because it has to be a big day.”
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Every word from Arteta’s pre-Bournemouth presser
Ever since: “We will see if we are ready. We should be fresh and definitely motivated, though, because we are facing Arsenal, away from home, in a big game.
“There’s never a good moment to face them. They are always very difficult to beat. They changed their team a bit for those cup games, but recovered their starting XI for Sporting and took a massive win. I expect the best Arsenal.”
TEAM NEWS
Arteta confirmed that Ebere Eze will be back in contention for this game after missing the past few weeks with a calf problem, while Piero Hincapie was pictured back in training after sitting out the last couple of matches since the international break.
Bukayo Saka and Jurrien Timber also missed out on those games but are edging closer to full fitness, but Mikel Merino is still out with his foot injury.
The 22-day gap between games for the visitors has allowed Junior Kroupi, Alex Jimenez, Ben Gannon-Doak and Tyler Adams to recover from the issues that had kept them out either side of the international break, while Argentinian left-back Julio Soler is also back after a lengthy hamstring layoff, but his minutes will be limited.
Justin Kluivert hasn’t featured since our 3-2 success in early January with a serious knee injury as he tries to battle back in time for the World Cup, while Lewis Cook’s recovery from a hamstring injury is taking longer than expected.
TALKING TACTICS
Adrian Clarke, writing in the official matchday programme: Iraola always lines up in a 4-2-3-1, and the astute Spaniard’s teams are renowned for producing fast, high-intensity football, with and without the ball. He wants his players to work exceptionally hard (no team in the division makes more sprints), and as a collective they press with great enthusiasm all over the pitch.
The Cherries have a vertical style of play which sees them transition quickly from defence to attack. This could be a move started by the progressive passing of central defender Marcos Senesi, a swiftly constructed passing sequence through the thirds, a long pass into the channels, or a rapid counter-attack. They get the ball forward quicker than almost any other team in the Premier League.
Iraola’s men are brilliant ball winners and regain possession with greater frequency than all the other 19 top-flight sides. Character and a never-say-die spirit are also qualities you associate with the Cherries, who have fallen behind on 13 occasions, but lost just five times when that happened.
Bournemouth can be guilty of giving up a lot of chances. Only the three teams currently occupying the bottom three places have faced a higher number of shots on target than the Cherries, so keeper Djordje Petrovic has been busier than his head coach would have liked.
FACTS AND STATS
Bournemouth have won two of their last three league games against us, more than they had in their previous 14.
We are looking to win five league games in a row for the third time this season. It would be only the third Premier League season in which we have had three separate runs of 5+ successive wins, after 2013/14 and 2022/23.
The Cherries’ 11-game unbeaten run is their joint-longest in the Premier League, along with between November 2024 and January 2025. They could though become the first team to draw six in a row since Man City in October/November 2009 (7).
We have had both the most different goalscorers (17 – excluding own goals) and the most goals scored by substitutes (11) in the Premier League this season.
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We average 0.71 expected goals against per game in the league, the lowest among sides in the division since Manchester City in 2021/22 (0.65 per game).
Declan Rice has both scored (5) and been involved in (7) more league goals against Bournemouth than any other opponent, with all seven of these involvements coming in his last eight.
Adrien Truffert has recorded 74 overlapping runs in the Premier League this season, 36 more than anyone else, while among defenders he ranks joint-third for assists from open play (3).
Junior Kroupi netted his ninth Premier League goal of the season against Manchester United; the last teenager to score 10+ goals in his first season in the competition was Robbie Keane for Coventry City in 1999/00 (12).
MATCH OFFICIALS
Michael Oliver will oversee us for the third time this season, following our 4-1 derby day win over Tottenham Hotspur and the 0-0 draw at Nottingham Forest in January. We have lost just once in the 11 matches he has handled since the start of 2023/24, despite receiving three red cards in that run.
The Northumberland official has refereed Bournemouth three times this term, and they’ve yet to be on the losing side, drawing twice before beating Wolves 2-0 in January. They’ve only lost one of nine under his watch, including the only time they’ve beaten a team on top of the table – a 2-1 win against Manchester City in November 2024.
Referee: Michael Oliver
Assistants: Stuart Burt, James Mainwaring
Fourth official: Gavin Ward
OUR: Darren England
Assistant VAR: Wade Smith
RECENT VISITS FROM BOURNEMOUTH
Bournemouth had lost all eight of their away games against us before last season, however they ended that run courtesy of a 2-1 success last May, sandwiched between both legs of our Champions League semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain. Declan Rice handed us a first-half lead, but goals from Dean Huijsen and Evanilson turned things around after the break.
Nearly exactly a year earlier, we ran out 3-0 victors thanks to goals from Bukayo Saka, Leandro Trossard and Rice to keep our title challenge alive, while it was a similar story in March 2023 in a famous game where we overcame a 2-0 deficit to fight back and eventually win with the last kick of the game thanks to Reiss Nelson’s 96th-minute belter.
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A look back at classic wins against Bournemouth
LIVE COVERAGE
Enjoy the best pre-match build-up with Live From N5, which will be streamed live on Arsenal.com and The Arsenal app (download now on iOS/Android) from an hour before kick-off!
Nakeira and Femi will be joined by Alex Song in the studio to chat about his Arsenal career, while Ghosts star Kiell Smith-Bynoe and plant-based chef Alfie Steiner – better known as alfiecooks – will also pop by to talk all-things Arsenal.
We’ll crown our latest Hero of the Week after securing a first-leg win at Sporting, look back on our app-exclusive Live from Sobha, while Emirates Stadium matchday host Nigel Mitchell takes us behind the scenes in Unseen Arsenal.
Then when kick-off comes, live commentary will be provided by Dan Roebuck and Arsenal legend Nigel Winterburn.
You can also find out which broadcaster is showing the action livewherever you are in the world.
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How to watch Arsenal v Bournemouth live on TV
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