Bournemouth vs Arsenal: Betting preview for FA Cup fourth round clash

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Arsenal will be looking to get back to winning ways when we take on Bournemouth in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Monday night.

After beating Manchester United 2-0 at the Emirates on New Year’s Day, Arsenal have draw our last three Premier League matches to leave our hopes of finishing in the top four this season hanging by a thread.

Consecutive 1-1 draws with Crystal Palace and Sheffield United were hugely frustrating as we threw away leads in both games but the Arsenal players showed real fight to come away with a point from Stamford Bridge in midweek.

David Luiz was shown a straight red card against his former side midway through the first half after bringing down Tammy Abraham in the area and it looked as though we were heading to a certain defeat when Jorginho converted the resulting penalty.

However, despite playing with a man down for over an hour, Arsenal fought back to score two equalisers and earn an impressive 2-2 draw at the Bridge thanks to fine goals from Gabriel Martinelli and Hector Bellerin.

It certainly felt like a win in the end but unfortunately we only took away a single point which has left Arsenal sitting 10th in the table and 10 points off the top four so Mikel Arteta should probably focus our energy on the cups this season.

However, progress in the FA Cup won’t be easy. After beating Leeds United 1-0 at the Emirates in the previous round, Arsenal now face another tricky test as we travel to the south coast to take on Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium on Monday night.

Team news

Arsenal have plenty of injury concerns to worry about as Sead Kolasinac is out until next month with a thigh strain while Kieran Tierney is still recovering from shoulder surgery. Bukayo Saka appeared to pick up a knee problem against Chelsea so he may not be risked on Monday.

Reiss Nelson is out with a hamstring injury and Calum Chambers won’t play again this season after rupturing his knee ligament, however, Sokratis is back in contention after recovering from illness.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang serves the last game of his suspension so Martinelli could keep his place on the left wing following his impressive performance at Chelsea on Tuesday night.

Arteta could freshen things up with the likes of Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Rob Holding, Matteo Guendouzi, Joe Willock, Dani Ceballos and Eddie Nketiah all pushing for recalls.

Bournemouth also have injury problems as Josh King, Jack Stacey, Junior Stanislas, Charlie Daniels, David Brooks and Chris Mepham will all miss the game.

Betting odds

Arsenal are the 20/23 favourites to win the game on Monday. Bournemouth can be backed at 16/5 to win inside the ninety minutes while the draw is available at 27/10. Arsenal are 3/10 to qualify including extra time and penalties, with Bournemouth at 12/5. I don’t see much value here in the match result market so we’ll have to be a bit more creative.

I’m a big fan of matched betting and this game could be a good opportunity to take advantage of any variances in the odds with different bookmakers. If you’re not familiar with this form of gambling read this matched betting guide for a simple overview before placing any bets. For those who want to stick to traditional betting methods, I’d go for a 2-1 Arsenal win at odds of 7/1.

Prediction

We drew 1-1 the last time we visited the Vitality on Boxing Day and I think this will be an equally tricky game. Bournemouth have struggled at times this season as they sit 18th in the table but they are capable of being a really dangerous outfit on their day and they come into the match off the back of a 3-1 win over Brighton.

Arsenal have obviously endured a nightmare campaign but there are signs of improvement under Arteta and we showed a real fighting spirit at Chelsea. If the players can show that sort of passion on Monday then I fancy Arsenal to edge it. I’m going for a 2-1 win to book our place in the fifth round.

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