Bournemouth vs Arsenal: Match betting preview for Arteta’s first game

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Mikel Arteta takes charge of his first game as Arsenal manager when we take on Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium on Boxing Day.

The 37-year-old was unveiled as Unai Emery’s permanent replacement on Friday and was in the stands to watch Freddie Ljungberg oversee a bore 0-0 draw with Everton in his final game as interim manager on Saturday afternoon.

The team looked far more compact at Goodison Park and we secured a much-needed clean sheet – our first in 14 games – but Arteta knows there is a huge amount of work to be done to get Arsenal back to being a competitive force again.

We head to the south coast sitting 11th in the Premier League table after winning just 5 of our 18 games so far this campaign so Arteta is going to have to work miracles over the coming months if he’s to get us challenging for a top four finish.

Bournemouth won’t be an easy game either as they are just 4 points behind us in the league and Eddie Howe is under pressure to get them away from the relegation zone after losing at home to Burnley last time out.

Team news

Arsenal have a mounting injury crisis to deal with as Sead Kolasinac has been ruled out with an ankle ligament injury while Kieran Tierney is out for three months following shoulder surgery. Teenage winger Bukayo Saka filled-in at left-back on Saturday and he could be asked to continue in the unfamiliar role on Thursday.

Hector Bellerin missed the trip to Everton with an on-going hamstring injury so he remains a doubt for the Bournemouth game while Rob Holding will also need a late fitness check having missed the last five games with a knee problem.

Mesut Ozil was ruled out of the game at Goodison Park with a foot injury so it remains to be seen how long he’ll be on the sidelines for while Dani Ceballos is still nursing a hamstring injury – although he’s due to resume full training next week.

Bournemouth have their own injury concerns to contend with as Nathan Ake is out with a thigh injury while Adam Smith, Steve Cook, Callum Wilson, Harry Wilson, Charles Daniels, David Brooks and Llyod Kelly are also out.

Betting & prediction

It’s difficult to make assumptions about this game as we don’t know how Arteta will set-up or how the players will respond but the guys at https://www.mightytips.com/free-sport-predictions/football/ are predicting an Arsenal win. The north Londoners are the even money favourites to win the game on Boxing Day, Bournemouth are available at 5/2 while the draw can be backed at 29/10.

Arsenal have been poor this season but Arteta will be demanding more from his players as many haven’t been putting in enough effort. The Gunners have scored 24 goals in their 18 games so far but have conceded 27 so tightening things up at the back will be a priority.

Bournemouth have also let-in 25 goals in their 18 league games so we should see plenty of goal-scoring chances at the Vitality. Over 2.5 match goals looks a solid bet at odds of 4/7 while both teams to score should come in at 1/2.

However, I hope we see Arteta get off to a strong start and am backing Arsenal to edge this one. It will certainly be an interesting game but I predict a narrow 2-1 Arsenal win, which can be backed at odds of 15/2.

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