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Bournemouth vs Arsenal preview, team news, how to watch and prediction

By on October 18, 2024

Arsenal get back to Premier League action on Saturday evening when they travel to the south coast to take on Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium.

It’s been a worrying two-week break for Mikel Arteta as a number of his stars have picked up knocks while away with their countries on international duty. The Spanish coach will be hoping to get some of his players back as Arsenal look to maintain their early season form with another win against Bournemouth.

The Gunners went into the international break off the back of four consecutive victories in all competitions. After breezing into the fourth round of the EFL Cup with a 5-1 win over Bolton, Arsenal then beat Leicester City 4-2 at the Emirates Stadium thanks to two late goals from Wilfred Ndidi [OG] and Kai Havertz.

Arteta’s men then followed that up with an impressive 2-0 victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League with Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka getting the all important goals at the Emirates Stadium to down the French champions.

Arsenal’s final game before the two-week hiatus saw them beat Southampton at home – but not without a scare. The Saints took a shock lead just after half-time but thankfully Arsenal levelled just two minutes later – Havertz scoring in his seventh consecutive game at the Emirates – before Gabriel Martinelli and Saka secured the comeback.

It’s left Arsenal sitting joint second in the Premier League table – level with Man City on points and goal difference, and just one point behind leaders Liverpool after seven games. Considering the tough start we’ve had – which included away games against Aston Villa, Man City and Tottenham – Arteta will be delighted to have secured 17 points from our opening seven matches.

We have another good chance to put three more points on the table when we visit Bournemouth this weekend, and it’s important we don’t slip up ahead of next weekend’s huge clash with Liverpool in North London.

However, it won’t be an easy game at the Vitality Stadium against a Bournemouth side who are more than capable of causing us problems. They’ve had a bit of an inconsistent start to the new campaign as they’ve picked up points against Everton, Newcastle, Nottingham Forest and Southampton, but tasted defeat against Chelsea and Liverpool before losing 1-0 away to Leicester last time out.

Boss Andoni Iraola will be hoping to get back to winning ways tomorrow and kick start their season so Arsenal cannot be complacent. We need a professional display and make sure we take all three points back to the capital.

How to watch

The game has been selected for live broadcast and will be shown on Sky Sports at 5.30pm on Saturday, 19th October. Subscribers can follow all the action on their TV, or via the app on mobile or tablet.

Alternatively, match going fans can buy Arsenal tickets through the club exchanges or via trusted resellers such as Seatsnet.com.

Team news

Arteta provided an extensive team news update to the media today and confirmed that Bukayo Saka could be in contention. The winger picked up a hamstring injury while away with England last week but could recover in time to face Bournemouth this weekend.

Thomas Partey was forced to pull out of international duty due to illness but he’s fully fit to feature on Saturday while Kai Havertz is expected to shake-off a knee knock to take his place in the squad.

There were reports this week that Martin Odegaard had suffered a set-back in his recovery from an ankle injury. However, Arteta rubbished those rumours and suggested that his captain could return inside the next week or two. Odegaard will still miss the trip to Bournemouth but it will be a big boost if he’s available again soon.

Gabriel Martinelli picked up a calf injury while away with Brazil this week. The winger will be assessed by Arsenal’s medical team before a decision is made over his availability this weekend.

Oleksandr Zinchenko has been hampered by a calf injury this season but he’s closing in on making his return to action. Ben White has also been nursing a knee problem that’s kept him out in recent weeks while Jurrien Timber missed the win over Southampton with a knock. All three full-backs will be given late fitness checks to see if they can return against Bournemouth.

On-loan goalkeeper Neto won’t be available to face his parent club but David Raya is expected to keep his place between the sticks.

As for Bournemouth, they have virtually a fully-fit squad to choose from. Milos Kerkez is expected to recover from illness to take his place in the squad while Tyler Adams could return from a back issue.

Likely Line-up

Raya will start in goal while William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes will continue their superb partnership at the heart of Arsenal’s defence. Riccardo Calafiori is expected to keep his place at left-back after impressing since joining from Bologna in the summer.

If White and Timber aren’t passed fit to return, we could see Thomas Partey starting at right-back after filling in against Southampton – although Arteta seemed hopeful that at least one of White or Timber would be fit.

Declan Rice should keep his place once again in midfield while Leandro Trossard could start in the No.10 role if Martinelli is fit to start on the left flank. As long as Saka doesn’t suffer any set-back he should take his place on the right wing with Havertz leading the line up front as long as he doesn’t show any signs of discomfort from his knee issue.

The likes of Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling are on stand-by to come in if any of Arsenal’s first choice attackers aren’t fit to start.

Prediction

Arsenal will obviously start the game as the heavy favourites but we need to remain focussed as this has the potential to be a very tricky away game.

Thankfully our form on the road has been superb so I’m confident Arsenal will bring home all three points. Bournemouth can be a tough side, especially at home, and they have the quality to get on the score sheet. But we should have enough firepower to edge it and take home another valuable three points. Bournemouth 1-2 Arsenal